Chase DeLauter absent from Saturday’s lineup

DeLauter grabs a seat on the bench for the second consecutive game as he continues to recover from a hamstring issue that cropped up over the weekend. The positive news is that an MRI didn’t reveal any structural issues. He’s day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series finale against San Francisco. It’ll be Angel Martínez taking over in right field in his absence.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told reporters that DeLauter is feeling better after receiving treatment during Monday’s off-day. He added that an MRI on his left hamstring didn’t reveal any structural issues. It’s an encouraging update after the 24-year-old rookie made an early exit from Sunday’s game with mild hamstring tightness. All signs point to DeLauter managing to avoid a trip to the injured list and returning to Cleveland’s lineup at some point this week. It’ll be Jo Adell and Angel Martínez in the outfield corners on Tuesday evening.

Why did they even claim him in the first place? Arias got one start and made one appearance off the bench during his 10 days with the Mets, going 0-for-5. He’ll stay in the organization if he clears waivers, but it’s just not going to make sense for the Mets to give him another chance in September when they have the similar-but-more-talented Ronny Mauricio ready to take those at-bats. Arias offers ample pop for a middle infielder, but poor plate discipline has held him back in a big way.

Bazzana is still drawing walks, but he’s hitting .189 with only one extra-base hit in his last 21 games, leaving him at .235/.332/.372 overall. There might be a slight chance of the Guardians sending him down at some point, clearing the way for Angel Genao to play second base regularly.

It’s hard to downplay an injury much more than calling it mild tightness. We’ll have to wait and see, but just imagine if DeLauter isn’t back out there on Tuesday when he has only mild tightness.

It’s unclear what was wrong. DeLauter popped out in the first before exiting two innings later. Angel Martínez replaced him, with Jo Adell moving from left field to right.

After his two-hit night Saturday against the Padres, DeLauter is 19-for-55 (.345) with 11 runs, two home runs, six RBI and two stolen bases in 13 games so far in August. He’s raised his average to .286 and OPS to .801 on the season.

He was the only Guardians player with multiple hits against the overwhelming Keider Montero. DeLauter is hitting .300/.394/.433 in his last 15 games with two homers and three stolen bases. He’s a credible 12-team outfielder despite the lack of hitting around him.

Both of Martínez’s doubles held weight in this game. His first came in the first inning as Framber Valdez nearly escaped a bases loaded jam with zero outs and just one run home. With two outs, Martínez doubled home a key second run. Then, as the Guardians needed insurance late, Martínez’s seventh inning double helped set up a two-run rally. Red-hot in August after going hit-less in first 18 at-bats off the injured list, Martínez is riding an eight-game hitting streak and is 13-for-33 this month.

Bazzana has sat against two of the three lefties the Guardians have faced since the callup of Angel Genao, who is playing second base and batting seventh tonight. It seems like it’ll be a trend unless an injury opens up more time for Genao at other positions. Bazzana is hitting just .192/.302/.240 against southpaws thus far.