BIOGRAPHY
Jake Cronenworth was born January 21, 1994, in St. Clair, Michigan. He is a shortstop in the MLB.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Cronenworth in the seventh round of the 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. He made his professional debut with the Hudson Valley Renegades. He played 2016 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods and Charlotte Stone Crabs (batting a combined .282/.389/.386), 2017 with Charlotte and the Montgomery Biscuits (batting a combined .274/.364/.358), and 2018 with Montgomery and Durham Bulls (batting a combined .253/.321/.345).
Cronenworth started 2019 with Durham. 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.
Cronenworth made his MLB debut with the Padres on July 26, 2020, and notched a hit and an RBI against the Arizona Diamondbacks. 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 of the Houston Astros. 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 of the Philadelphia Phillies for second place in NL Rookie of the Year voting, behind Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers.
On July 4, 2021, Cronenworth was selected to his first All-Star Game as a reserve. In his first game back from the All-Star Break on July 16, he hit for the cycle at Nationals Park against the Washington Nationals. He finished the 2021 season batting .266/.340/.460 with 21 home runs, 71 RBIs and 94 runs scored.
On January 13, 2023, Cronenworth agreed to a one-year, $4.225 million contract with the Padres, avoiding salary arbitration.
