CLEVELAND -- Guardians outfield prospect Chase DeLauter faces another extended absence after he underwent surgery on Wednesday for a right hamate fracture.
DeLauter, who had been dealing with lingering right wrist soreness in recent weeks while with Triple-A Columbus, underwent the procedure in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning. It was performed by hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham.
According to the Guardians, return-to-play timelines for position players in similar instances are six to eight weeks, meaning DeLauter (Cleveland’s No. 2 prospect, No. 31 overall) will be out until at least early September.
DeLauter dealt with right wrist soreness in the final weeks before the All-Star break, and he had an uptick in symptoms that sidelined him for the final two games of the first half, vs. Louisville on July 12 and 13. The 23-year-old rested during the break, but the soreness persisted afterward, and he underwent an MRI that revealed a hook of the hamate fracture, leading to the surgery.
It’s another stroke of unfortunate injury luck for DeLauter, who has dealt with multiple injury setbacks since Cleveland selected him 16th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft that have limited him to 138 career games. He appeared positioned to make his MLB debut this summer.
“I feel for him, obviously,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s been a couple years now with just injuries, but we all continue to believe Chase is going to be an impact player for us someday. But obviously, that's going to be put on pause for a little bit.”
DeLauter played in 39 games last season, when he missed time with fractured a bone in his left foot (which he had surgically repaired a year prior), a sprained right big toe and a right hamstring strain.
He has played in 42 games this season, after he underwent core muscle surgery for a sports hernia in March during Spring Training -- which delayed his season debut with Columbus until May 23. The Guardians took a conservative approach to DeLauter’s build-up this season and incrementally increased his playing time volume. He played four consecutive days for the first time this season from July 1-4.
The buzz around a big league callup grew increasingly loud over the past month, as DeLauter reached base safely in all 34 games he played for the Clippers. He slashed .278/.383/.476 with five homers, 21 RBIs and 22 walks with 23 strikeouts with Columbus.
He slashed .194/.265/.387 over eight games in July, numbers that seem to coincide with the wrist issue.