Jacob John Cronenworth (born January 21, 1994) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Cronenworth was born and raised in eastern

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He played three seasons of

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

. Cronenworth forewent his final year of college eligibility when he was selected by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

in the seventh round of the

2015 MLB draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

. He played five seasons in the Rays farm system and spent time with the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...

in 2019. In December 2019, Cronenworth was sent to the Padres in a multi-player trade. He made his MLB debut in 2020 and finished second in

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) Rookie of the Year voting. On July 16, 2021, Cronenworth

hit for the cycle Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, becoming the third player in Padres history to do so. He received

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

selections in 2021 and 2022.

Amateur career

Cronenworth attended St. Clair High School in St. Clair, Michigan and played

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. At Michigan, he was an

and

closing pitcher In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer (abbreviated CL), is a relief pitcher who specializes in getting the final outs in a close game when his team is leading. The role is often assigned to a team's best reliev ...

In 2014, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

The

selected Cronenworth in the seventh round of the 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. He made his professional debut with the

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

. He played 2016 with the

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which ...

and

Charlotte Stone Crabs The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

(batting a combined .282/.389/.386), 2017 with Charlotte and the

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

(batting a combined .274/.364/.358), and 2018 with Montgomery and

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

(batting a combined .253/.321/.345). Cronenworth started 2019 with the Durham Bulls. During the season, he pitched in a game for the first time since college, going 7.1 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts over seven games. In 2019 playing for two teams in the minor leagues he batted .329/.422/.511 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs. After the season, on October 10, 2019, Cronenworth was selected for the

in the

2019 WBSC Premier 12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship w ...

. In the tournament he batted .103/.133/.241 with one home run and two RBIs in 28 at bats. The Rays added Cronenworth to their 40–man roster following the 2019 season.

San Diego Padres

On December 6, 2019, Cronenworth and

Tommy Pham Thomas James Pham (born March 8, 1988) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cin ...

were traded to the

in exchange for

Hunter Renfroe Dustin Hunter Renfroe (born January 28, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewer ...

, Xavier Edwards, and 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 ...

(PTBNL). The PTBNL,

Esteban Quiroz Jesús Esteban Quiroz Ortiz (born February 17, 1992) is a Mexican professional baseball infielder for the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs. He plays on the ...

, was named in March 2020. Cronenworth made his MLB debut with the Padres on July 26, 2020, and notched a hit and an RBI against the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

. On August 4, Cronenworth hit his first MLB home run off Dustin May in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. On August 22, Cronenworth hit his first career grand slam off of

Humberto Castellanos Humberto Castellanos (born April 3, 1998) is a Mexican professional baseball pitcher for the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros and ...

of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. Cronenworth was named NL Rookie of the Month in August 2020 after hitting .356 with 16 extra base hits, 17 RBIs and 20 runs over 31 games. Cronenworth finished the season hitting .285 with 4 home runs and 20 RBIs in 54 games. He tied with

Alec Bohm Alec Daniel Bohm (born August 3, 1996) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020. Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Bohm was a standout hitte ...

of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

for second place in NL Rookie of the Year voting, behind

Devin Williams Devin or Devon Williams may refer to: * Devin Williams (baseball) (born 1994), American professional baseball player * Devin Williams (basketball) (born 1994), American professional basketball player * Devon Williams (decathlete) (born 1994), A ...

of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. On July 4, 2021, Cronenworth was selected to his first

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

as a reserve. In his first game back from the All-Star Break on July 16, he

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...

against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. He finished the 2021 season batting .266/.340/.460 with 21 home runs, 71 RBIs and 94 runs scored. On October 14, 2022, Cronenworth had the game-winning 2-run single in the bottom of the 7th inning of Game 4 of the NLDS to finish off the Padres’ defeat of the rival

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in baseball history. On January 13, 2023, Cronenworth agreed to a one-year, $4.225 million contract with the Padres, avoiding salary arbitration. On April 1, 2023, Cronenworth and the Padres agreed to a seven-year, $80 million contract extension; the new extension keeps Cronenworth with the Padres through the 2030 season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronenworth, Jake 1994 births Living people Arizona Complex League Padres players Baseball pitchers Baseball players from St. Clair County, Michigan Bowling Green Hot Rods players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Durham Bulls players El Paso Chihuahuas players Gulf Coast Rays players Hudson Valley Renegades players Major League Baseball shortstops Michigan Wolverines baseball players Montgomery Biscuits players National League All-Stars Orleans Firebirds players People from St. Clair, Michigan San Diego Padres players United States national baseball team players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players