Everyone has tough days at the office, but what happened to Padres slugger Jake Cronenworth Saturday night is on a whole other level.
With a man on second in the top of the fifth inning, Cronenworth dug in against Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi, only to get drilled by a 97 mph fastball directly on his cheek.
Despite the brush with disaster, Cronenworth only took a few moments to compose himself and remained in the game. In fact, the infielder ended up having a pretty good game, going 1-1 with two walks and an RBI.
Though Saturday night’s experience at the plate was exceptionally painful, things haven’t gone well for Cronenworth this year, even when pitches are not hitting him. So far, he’s hitting a paltry .152 on the young season.
A stark contrast from where he was a few years ago, when he made back-to-back All-Star game appearances in 2021 and 2022.
Still, his efforts and sacrifices helped San Diego defeat the Angels, 4-1. The win helped the Padres improve to 14-7 and stay just 1.5 games back of the NL West division-leading Dodgers.