Cleveland’s DeLauter drops fly ball in center on first ball in majors before making key play in 4th

CLEVELAND AP Chase DeLauter had an eventful first four innings to his major league career DeLauter dropped the first fly ball hit to him but later made a great throw to retire a Detroit baserunner during the fourth inning of Wednesday s Encounter of the AL Wild Card Series The rookie center fielder is the first Cleveland player to make his big league debut in a postseason competition It wasn t a great start though DeLauter dropped a high fly hit to center by Detroit s Gleyber Torres during the first inning He had a tough time initially tracking the ball on a sunny afternoon before moving a couple attempts to his right The ball popped out of his glove when he tried to haul it in near the middle of his body feet from home plate The error put runners on first and second with no outs but Tanner Bibee struck out the next three hitters to end the threat Bibee approached DeLauter in the dugout to give him a pat on the back and various reassurance Guardians manager Stephen Vogt declared before the battle he wasn t concerned about DeLauter being able to play center despite the shadows and wind that can create challenges playing the outfield at Progressive Field in October He s dealt with sun dealt with shadows his whole life Vogt mentioned Go out and play baseball There s danger with anybody playing in elements It s not because you ve never done it or because of this Let s go Let s see what happens In the fourth inning DeLauter fielded Javier B ez s hit and made a pinpoint throw to third base as Zach McKinstry was tagged out by Jos Ram rez McKinstry was originally ruled safe which would have put Detroit on top - but instant replay overruled the call which took one run off the board and left it - DeLauter who turns on Oct was batting seventh as the Guardians tried to avoid being eliminated It is the first time a Cleveland participant made his big league debut in a postseason event Just with where we re at Offense has been a struggle for us and we re looking to generate particular more offense Vogt noted Chase has played a lot of center field he s been a very good outfielder He s been a very good hitter We feel like this is the right move to do Cleveland struck out times and managed only four hits in a - loss to the Tigers on Tuesday DeLauter became the sixth member to debut in the postseason and the first since Tampa Bay pitcher Shane McClanahan San Diego pitcher Ryan Weathers and Minnesota outfielder Alex Kirilloff in according to the Elias Sports Bureau Vogt announced he described DeLauter on Monday there was a good chance he would play on Wednesday Selected th in the amateur draft DeLauter hit with five homers and RBIs in games at Triple-A Columbus Even though putting DeLauter out there might be considered a peril Vogt noted it s not any different from what the organization has done all season We ve pushed the envelope all year Why stop now We ve had to do particular really uncomfortable things all year Vogt stated DeLauter likely would have been up at selected point during the regular season but he was sidelined by injuries for much of this year He was hurt during a pregame workout at spring training on Feb and had bilateral core muscle surgery on March for a sports hernia After eight games at the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Guardians DeLauter played his first match this year for Triple-A Columbus on May but he stayed in the lineup only until July He had surgery days later to repair a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist DeLauter had been slated to play in the Arizona Fall League and had been taking batting practice at the organization s Arizona complex before he was called up to the postseason roster You re making your major league debut and you re in a wild card series and elimination event Have fun embrace it enjoy it Vogt revealed Chase is ready You can see it on his face how good of a competitor he is and we re going to roll with it and we re excited for him and his family AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source