June 10, 2026
In his debut with the Guardians, Rhys Hoskins went 3-3 with a walk on Opening Day in Seattle.
He’s first player to reach base at least four times without recording an out in his Cleveland Debut since Boog Powell went 3-3 with a walk and a home run on Opening Day in 1975.
And just like Hoskins’ debut was overshadowed by Chase DeLauter, Powell’s was overshadowed by Frank Robinson.
In the bottom of the first inning on Opening Day, Seattle leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan got things started with a home run off Tanner Bibee.
It’s just the second time in franchise history Cleveland’s Opening Day starter has allowed a home run to the first batter of the season.
In 1932, Detroit’s Roy Johnson led off the bottom off the first with a solo shot off Wes Ferrell. Cleveland would end up winning the game in 11 innings.
Although he made his MLB debut in the postseason last year, Chase DeLauter had never appeared in a regular season contest until Opening Day in Seattle.
So his two homer game against the Mariners is the sixth in MLB history in a player’s first regular season appearance:
Story is the only other to do so on Opening Day. Nieman later played for Cleveland, hitting just two homers in 41 games in 1961 and 1962.
DeLauter also become just the fourth player in franchise history with two homers on Opening Day, joining this list:
DeLauter is also the 17th youngest player in MLB history with two homers on Opening Day (24 years, 170 days).
Tyler Soderstrom of the A’s (23 years, 123 days) was the last to do so at a younger age, last year. The youngest is Bryce Harper (20 years, 167 days).
Backup catcher Dom Nunez scored two runs in his two games played in 2025.
He’s the 10th player in team history to play in multiple games and finish the season with at least as many runs scored as games played.
The last to do so was Brian Giles in 1995, when he scored six runs in six games.
Although Joey Cantillo made nine starts a season ago, he maintained his rookie status in 2025 and posted some impressive numbers.
Cantillo became just the third rookie in franchise history (minimum 10 starts) to post a K-per-9 rate above 10.
Most strikeouts by nine innings by Cleveland rookies (min. 10 starts)
Of course Score’s number is truly the most impressive on the list given the era in which he pitched.
Of the 18 Cleveland rookies with at least 7.5 K per 9, Score and CC Sabathia (8.5 in 2001) and Sonny Siebert (8.3 in 1964) are the only ones pre-2012.
Although injuries delayed his season debut until late June, Erik Sabrowski became the 42nd player in franchise history with at least 30 appearances to post an ERA under 2.00.
Sabrowski finished the year with a 1.84 ERA in 33 games.
He’s also the 10th rookie on the list.
Lowest ERA by Cleveland rookies with at least 30 appearances:
There have been 64 instances of player hitting 30 or more home runs in team history, including Jose Ramirez‘s 30 this year.
Only 15 of those seasons produced fewer than 100 RBI and Ramirez’s 85 RBI are the fifth fewer in a 30-homer season in team history.
The fewest:
In his second career game, Chase DeLauter collected his first career hit in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card round against Detroit.
He joins Chad Ogea (in Game 6 of the 1997 World Series) as the only players in franchise history to collect their first career hit in the postseason.
Fewest career hits before first postseason hit:
DeLauter is also the 18th rookie in franchise history with a postseason hit, 10 of which have occurred since the 2022 season.
Through his first four seasons, Steven Kwan collected 649 hits, tied with Vince Coleman for 64th most all time
It’s also the fourth most in Cleveland history:
In the first inning of Game 2 of the ALWC, George Valera gave the Guardians a 1-0 with his first career postseason home run.
Valera, who made his major league debut in September, had just two career home runs prior to his first playoff homer.
That ties pitcher Jim Bagby (who homered in the 1920 World Series) for the team record for fewest homers before hitting a home run in the playoffs.
The next fewest belong to Asdrubal Cabrera (three), Dale Mitchell (five) and Kyle Manzardo (five).