Padres roster review: Jake Cronenworth

JAKE CRONENWORTH

• Position(s): Second base, shortstop, first base
• 2022 opening day age: 28
• Bats / Throws: Left / Right
• Height / Weight: 6-foot / 190 pounds
• How acquired: Via trade with Tampa Bay Rays in December 2019
• Contract status: Earned $584,900 in 2021; will not be arbitration-eligible until 2023
• Key 2021 stats: .266 avg., .340 OBP, .460 SLG, 21 HRs, 71 RBIs, 94 runs, 4 steals, 55 walks, 90 strikeouts (152 games, 643 plate appearances)
  

STAT TO NOTE

• 13.7 — Cronenworth’s whiff rate in 2021, the sixth-lowest in the majors among hitters with at least 500 plate appearances. As such, Cronenworth cut his strikeout rate from 15.6 percent as a rookie to 14 percent last year in making his first All-Star Game.
  

TRENDING

• Up — When the Padres gave up OF Hunter Renfroe and prospect Xavier Edwards, the hope was they were upgrading their situation in left field with Tommy Pham and providing the bench with a potential Swiss Army knife in Cronenworth, who was coming off a career year as a shortstop in a deep Tampa Bay system and was even dabbling in some mound work as a two-way player. The Padres’ plans to continue that experiment were scrapped when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but Cronenworth still won a bench job and played himself into the starting lineup by hitting .285/.354/.477 en route to finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. The encore was even better as Cronenworth enjoyed a power surge that made him a middle-of-the-order option and arguably the team’s most dependable bat until sustaining a small fracture in his left ring finger in September. He led the Padres with 13 game-winning RBIs, tied for third in NL with seven triples — including one while hitting for the cycle in Washington on July 16 — and earned some Gold Glove buzz (albeit not as a finalist) with head-turning plays at second base. Of course, Cronenworth remained a Swiss Army knife option, too, sliding over to first base to spell Eric Hosmer against left-handed starting pitching and even starting 36 games at shortstop as the Padres experimented with Fernando Tatis Jr. in the outfield to keep his balky shoulder healthy.
  

2022 OUTLOOK

• With Adam Frazier traded away, Cronenworth is again the unquestioned starter at second base, although the Padres figure to continue to take advantage of his versatility throughout the season.
  

Padres shortstop Jake Cronenworth throws to first for the out on Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in San Diego.

(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

ROSTER RANKINGS

• No. 6 | INF Jake Cronenworth
• No. 7 | OF Wil Myers
• No. 8 | OF Trent Grisham
• No. 9 | RHP Mike Clevinger
• No. 10 | RHP Dinelson Lamet
• No. 11 | RHP Chris Paddack
• No. 12 | LHP MacKenzie Gore
• No. 13 | LHP Ryan Weathers
• No. 14 | LHP Adrián Morejon
• No. 15 | LHP Drew Pomeranz
• No. 16 | C Austin Nola
• No. 17 | C Luis Campusano
• No. 18 | 1B Eric Hosmer
• No. 19 | RHP Robert Suarez
• No. 20 | RHP Pierce Johnson
• No. 21 | RHP Craig Stammen
• No. 22 | OF Jurickson Profar
• No. 23 | RHP Luis Garcia
• No. 24 | LHP Tim Hill
• No. 25 | INF Ha-seong Kim
• No. 26 | RHP Emilio Pagán
• No. 27 | RHP Austin Adams
• No. 28 | RHP Reiss Knehr
• No. 29 | C Victor Caratini
• No. 30 | RHP Michel Báez
• No. 31 | LHP Ray Kerr
• No. 32 | RHP Javy Guerra
• No. 33 | RHP Nabil Crismatt
• No. 34 | RHP Steven Wilson
• No. 35 | C Jorge Alfaro
• No. 36 | RHP Efrain Contreras
• No. 37 | RHP Adrian Martinez
• No. 38 | RHP Pedro Avila
• No. 39 | INF Eguy Rosario
• No. 40 | RHP James Norwood