Christopher John Cron Jr. ( ; born January 5, 1990) 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 ...

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. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

who is a free agent. He has previously played in

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) for the

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

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 ...

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and

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

. 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 and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

Amateur career

Cron attended Mountain Pointe High School in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, 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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in the 44th round (1320th overall) of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign, opting to attend the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, where he played

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

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 was a member of the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference from th ...

team. In 2009, Cron was named a second Team College Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n and

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(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 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 ...

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, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League ...

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 ...

. 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 In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

, for which he was named a ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

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 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. Franchi ...

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 (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

, 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 Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 123

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBIs). He played for the

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and play in the Texas League. Hi ...

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 B ...

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 (MiLB) team that plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Based in South Jordan, Utah, the team plays its home games at The Ballpark at Am ...

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 The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. The Angels continued to use Raúl Ibañez 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 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 ...

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 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 ...

, hitting 30 over 140 games. He also slashed .253/.323/.493 with 74

and finished sixth among

s in wins above replacement. On November 20, the Rays designated Cron for assignment.

Minnesota Twins

On November 26, 2018, Cron was claimed off waivers by the

. 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

. 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

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. The following season, Cron established career highs in games played (150), runs (79), hits (148) & RBI (102) to go with an All-Star selection.. On the 2023 season, Cron missed part of the first half due to a back injury, only appearing in 56 games.

Los Angeles Angels (second stint)

On July 30, 2023, Cron was traded along with Randal Grichuk to the Angels in exchange for minor league pitchers Jake Madden and Mason Albright.

Boston Red Sox

On March 1, 2024, Cron signed a minor league contract with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. On March 22, Cron triggered the opt–out clause in his contract and he was released two days later.

Personal life

Cron is the son of former MLB player Chris Cron. Cron's younger brother, Kevin, also plays professional baseball. Their cousin, Chad Moeller, also played in MLB.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cron, C. J. 1990 births Living people All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Anchorage Glacier Pilots players Arizona Complex League Rockies players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Phoenix, Arizona Colorado Rockies players Cotuit Kettleers players Detroit Tigers players Fort Myers Miracle players Gulf Coast Twins players Inland Empire 66ers players Leones del Escogido players 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

Amateur career

Professional career

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels

Tampa Bay Rays

Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers

Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles Angels (second stint)

Boston Red Sox

Personal life

See also

References

External links