Baseball America with a nice piece on Cronenworth
The theme of the story is how the Padres won the trade with the Rays when they acquired Jacob Cronenworth. Among other notes from the article is that Cronenworth has the highest OPS of any NL second baseman since the start of the 2020 sprint. It also notes his defense is so good at short, that it’s making it easier for San Diego to move Tatis the outfield. A link to the story is below, but it may be paywalled:
August 23rd, 2021 at 3:45 PM ^
To those who don't follow UM baseball closely, Cronenworth was a UM infielder/pitcher drafted by the Rays in 2015. Maybe like a 6th round pick or so.
Edit: If I would've just read the OP's linked article, I would have verified that he was a 7th round pick by the Rays!!!
August 23rd, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
It's very very rare for the Rays to "lose" a trade.
August 23rd, 2021 at 6:18 PM ^
I admit I haven't seen Cronenworth play more than just a few times, being I rarely watch or pay much attention to the Padres. 90% of my baseball TV viewing is of the Tigers, and very seldom otherwise do I watch National League baseball.
Maybe it's time to step up my game and watch a few more Padres games now that Miggy has reached the 500 HR milestone. If I don't soon, I might not get a chance this fall---the Padres are in a tailspin and in danger of not making the playoffs. In fact, I read early today that they just fired their pitching coach because of an underperforming pitching staff.
August 23rd, 2021 at 6:44 PM ^
He's become a fan and announcer favorite here in SD. Basically any part of the field he covers, or wherever he his the ball is referred to as the "Crone Zone". He's shown really good power to right and right center, and seems very solid playing SS. I think the chill vibe on the team with guys like Tatis and Machado has really allowed him to emerge as an excellent player considering he seemed like just a throw-in for the Tommy Pham trade. I had mentioned it in a post early in the season when he came in as a relief pitcher in a late-inning blow out, but after he had a base hit earlier that game, they played The Victors on the PA.
Padres currently in a major tailspin but Jake has had some clutch bombs recently.
Couldn't find a mention in the article, but he hit for the cycle in July: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjlvrNFafZo
Cheesey Crone Zone production: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Es_tPLMBk
