Jake Cronenworth Is Becoming More Impactful, But Padres Require A Balancing Act

It'd be easy to look at the season of Jake Cronenworth and not walk away with anything of note. Such is life when you've missed two months of the year while residing on the concussion-related injured list. However, the early returns upon his, well, return are encouraging for a San Diego Padres team in need of any secondary contributions they can find on offense.

Cronenworth's numbers on the season aren't anything terrific. He's running a .204/.291/.290 line and a 69 wRC+. His strikeout rate is up a touch (22.4 percent), and his walk rate is down a bit (9.3 percent) from their usual standards. The reality, though, is that much of that  production is being dragged down by his performance early in the season. Since his return to action, he's done just enough to become interesting again. 

Prior to his lengthy IL stint, Cronenworth was struggling. In March & April, he was hitting only .146 and reaching base at a .276 clip. There was very little power to speak of either, as his .056 isolated power was ahead of only Fernando Tatis Jr. as the team's worst over that stretch. The approach that has become so typical of Cronenworth was still there, as he walked more than 13 percent of the time, but had very little else to offer the collective over that stretch. 

Over the next two months, Cronenworth would log only an even dozen trips to the plate. He was sent to the IL in early May and didn't return until nearly the last day of June. What's transpired since his return here in July has been quite interesting. 

Now healthy again, Cronenworth has slashed .292/.324/.431. His wRC+ is back to that of an above-average hitter for the month, at 111. Despite fewer plate appearances than he had in March & April, he's already eclipsed his total number of extra-base hits, with three doubles and a pair of home runs. What's particularly interesting about Cronenworth over this stretch, though, is the way his plate appearances have unfolded, which run a bit in contrast to the player we're accustomed to seeing. 

Across nearly 70 plate appearances since returning, Cronenworth has walked only three times. That's a 4.3 percent walk rate. Meanwhile, he's struck out more than 26 percent of the time. There's a level of aggression here that we're simply not used to over these last few years of watching Cronenworth. 

In July, his swing rate is nearly 52 percent. That's eight points higher than his rate from the season's first month and well above any mark he posted in an individual month in either 2024 or 2025. To some extent, it's come at the expense of his ability to make contact, with a 25.2 percent whiff rate that's roughly the same as it was in March & April of 2026 but certainly higher than anything we've seen in either of the last two seasons. It's possible that shouldn't be looked at as a complete negative, however. 

Cronenworth's bat speed is up quite a bit here in 2026. A 72.1 MPH average swing speed is well above any number he's posted since 2023. His attack angle has become just a bit steeper (eight degrees), and his rate of ideal attack angle (38.5 percent) has come up along with it. Those are positive trends for a player trying to get back to the more regular power output he showcased early in his career. 

The important thing for Cronenworth moving forward, as a result, is a discovery of balance. The jury is still out on Steven Souza Jr. as a hitting coach, but we know that one of his initiatives was to get bat speed up. However, that also cannot come at the expense of discipline. Especially for a player like Cronenworth, whose power is already of a more modest flavor to begin with. 

Don't get it twisted, though: this is an encouraging step. One primary factor holding Cronenworth back the last few years has been his inability to get the ball in the air in a more impactful fashion. A steeper, harder swing is going to help him do that. However, the balance needs to be there. It can't come at the expense of his approach at the plate, which allows him to be a regular pedestrian on the basepaths. He's showing us another dynamic of his skill set, but now needs to marry the patience and the increased power.

If he can manage that, we could get back to the version of Cronenworth that the team felt warranted a lengthy contract just a few years ago.

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