DeLauter, Alexander, Williams earn Week 4 Fall League honors

It was a banner week in the Arizona Fall League for Chase DeLauter, CJ Alexander and Kendall Williams. All three earned accolades for their performances during the fourth week of the annual elite prospect circuit.

DeLauter, the Guardians' No. 4 prospect and MLB's No. 85 overall, and Royals slugger Alexander were honored as the AFL’s co-Hitters of the Week. Dodgers righty Williams was named the circuit’s Pitcher of the Week.

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DeLauter, Alexander share hitting kudos
DeLauter only appeared in three games for Peoria this week, but boy, did the Guardians prospect make them count. On Oct. 23, he recorded three hits, scored two runs and drove in another. On Oct. 27, the 22-year-old clocked a three-run homer, walked in a run and stole a base. And on Oct. 28, he launched another three-run homer on a two-hit night. All told, DeLauter went 6-for-14, boosting his league-leading RBI total to 23 in the process. He also stands in a five-way tie for seventh in runs (15).

Asked about the results he’s seeing in the Fall League, DeLauter said he’s “just working on being on time as much as possible and trying to be athletic in the box.”

The 27-year-old Alexander was a late addition to Surprise’s roster, replacing teammate Nick Loftin shortly after finishing a 17-homer season spent mostly at Triple-A Omaha. The left-handed swinging first baseman slashed .292/.387/.750 in his first seven games of the fall, swatting two homers with eight RBIs and six extra-base hits.

“It’s trusting my hitting guys,” Alexander said after driving in three runs in the Saguaros' win over Peoria on Oct. 23. “Sticking with one thing. I don’t plan on changing a lot approach-wise. I want to be better with my approach and then lock in my swing mechanics from there.”

Williams' wild week
The 22-year-old Williams was dominant across three scoreless innings in his fourth start for Glendale, striking out six without a walk and allowing only one hit in his lone start of the week. The hard-throwing righty sports a 4.30 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14⅔ innings across four starts this fall, after posting a 3.73 ERA in 16 starts across four levels -- ending with one start at Triple-A Oklahoma City -- during the regular season.

One of Williams' goals this fall has been to further develop his new cutter after implementing it only sporadically during what was a successful 2023 regular season in many ways.

“We talked about it all year, but honestly, once we got to the Fall League and I kind of finished up most of the regular season, I was like, ‘OK, now’s a decent time. Maybe we got something, maybe flash it a little bit.’ And it’s worked so far for what I’ve done with it,” Williams said. “I think the biggest thing is just kind of always learning, always growing – just understanding what makes me good. And obviously, the more I can add to the arsenal, the better. So as long as I keep developing, I think I’m going in the right direction.”