Christopher John Cron Jr. (born January 5, 1990) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

for the Colorado Rockies of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He previously played for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

, Minnesota Twins, and Detroit Tigers. He bats and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Amateur career

Cron attended

Mountain Pointe High School Mountain Pointe High School is a secondary school located in Ahwatukee, Arizona one of eight public high schools serving the Tempe Union High School District. History The Ahwatukee area of Phoenix experienced explosive growth in the 1990s. The ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, and graduated in 2008. He was drafted by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in the 44th round (1320th overall) of the

2008 Major League Baseball draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first ro ...

, but he did not sign, opting to attend college. Cron attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Utah Utes baseball The Utah Utes baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of University of Utah in Salt Lake City Utah, United States. The program's first season was in 1892, and it has been a member of the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference sinc ...

team.

In 2009, Cron was named a second Team College Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

(MWC) Freshman of the Year. In 2010, he was named a third Team College All-American, MWC All-Star and MWC Player of the Year. After the 2010 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 2011, Cron led the nation in

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

(OPS) (1.320) and slugging percentage, for which he was named a '' Baseball America''

Professional career

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels

The Angels selected Cron in the first round, with the 17th overall selection, of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. He made his professional debut that season with the Rookie-level

Orem Owlz The Orem Owlz were a Minor League Baseball team located in Orem, Utah, United States, from 2001 to 2020. The team competed in the Pioneer League as a Rookie League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The Owlz played their home games at Home o ...

of the Pioneer League that year. In 2012, Cron played for the

Inland Empire 66ers The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, California, and play at San Manuel Stadium. Franchis ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League, where he had a .293

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 27

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 123

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs). He played for the

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League. History The team succeeded ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 2013, and hit .274 with 14 home runs and 83 RBIs. Cron began the 2014 season with the

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark o ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

Pacific Coast League. He hit .319 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in 28 games for Salt Lake.

Cron made his

(MLB) debut with the Angels on May 3, 2014. Cron hit his first career major league home run on May 10, in an eventual win against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. The Angels continued to use

Raúl Ibañez Raúl Javier Ibañez (; born June 2, 1972) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) now serving as Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations for MLB. He played 11 of his 19 big league seaso ...

as their

, while Ibañez mentored Cron, in spite of Ibañez's struggles. Following the release of Ibañez on June 21, Cron became the Angels' primary

as well as playing first base frequently. He finished the season with a .256 batting average and 11 home runs. Cron was the starting DH for the Angels opening day roster in 2015, but was optioned to Triple-A twice during the season. After struggling at the plate and with some nagging injuries, Cron only played in 113 games in 2015 and hit 16 home runs for the Angels. Cron once again made the team out of spring training in 2016, serving as their DH and occasional first baseman. On July 2, he had six hits, including two home runs and a double, in a 21–2 defeat of the Boston Red Sox. Cron tied his career high in 2016 with 16 home runs in 116 games, while also hitting .278 with 69 RBI. The Angels optioned Cron to Salt Lake on May 22, 2017, after enduring a slow start to the season. He was called back up after a month. He finished the season with a .248 average and 16 home runs.

Tampa Bay Rays

On February 17, 2018, the Angels traded Cron to the

in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

( Luis Rengifo). On July 9, Cron hit his 17th home run of the season, setting a new career high before the All-Star break. On July 26, Cron hit his 20th home run of the season against the New York Yankees. Cron finished his season with career highs in home runs, hitting 30 over 140 games. He also slashed .253/.323/.493 with 74

and finished sixth among

s in

wins above replacement Wins Above Replacement or Wins Above Replacement Player, commonly abbreviated to WAR or WARP, is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic developed to sum up "a player's total contributions to his team". A player's WAR value is claimed to ...

. On November 20, the Rays designated Cron for assignment.

Minnesota Twins

On November 26, 2018, Cron was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins. In 125 games, Cron hit .253 with 25 home runs and 78 RBI. On December 2, 2019, Cron was non-tendered by Minnesota and became a free agent.

Detroit Tigers

On December 21, 2019, Cron signed a one-year, $6.1 million contract with the Detroit Tigers. On July 24, 2020, Cron made his Tigers debut as Opening Day starting first baseman. On August 15, 2020, it was announced Cron needed season-ending knee surgery. Overall with the 2020 Detroit Tigers, Cron batted .190 with four home runs and 8 RBIs in 13 games.

Colorado Rockies

On February 15, 2021, Cron signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies organization that included an invitation to Spring Training. On March 20, Cron's contract was selected to the 40-man roster. On October 5, 2021, he signed a 2-year, $14.5 million extension with the Rockies. In his first season with the Rockies, Cron batted .281/.375/.530 with 28 home runs and a career-high 92 RBIs and 70 runs scored.

Personal life

Cron is the son of former MLB player Chris Cron. Cron's younger brother,

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

, also plays professional baseball. Their cousin,

Chad Moeller Chad Edward Moeller OE-ler(born February 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000 through 2010 for the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinna ...

, also played in MLB.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cron, C. J. 1990 births Living people All-American college baseball players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Phoenix, Arizona Colorado Rockies players Cotuit Kettleers players Detroit Tigers players Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Mesa Solar Sox players Minnesota Twins players National League All-Stars Orem Owlz players Salt Lake Bees players Tampa Bay Rays players Utah Utes baseball players Anchorage Glacier Pilots players

Amateur career

Professional career

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels

Tampa Bay Rays

Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers

Colorado Rockies

Personal life

See also

References

External links