Cron is f ighting for a position
Angels first baseman has competition this year and might be the odd man out in the equation.
Ariz. — Angels hitters faced Angels pitchers for the first time this year Tuesday. It is a rite of spring, the first day of so-called live batting practice. Some batters behave much like they do during an actual at-bat. Others use the opportunity to track pitches and reacclimate to major league velocity.
After the last of his live atbats, spent mostly in observation mode, Mike Trout retreated to the bench at the practice field, where several teammates were waiting to take their cuts.
“Why didn’t you swing?” first baseman C.J. Cron said to the reigning American League most valuable player.
Because, Trout said, he was not trying to win the batting title of Feb. 21.
“The mentality of this season is to win everything all the time,” Cron said, to which Trout laughed.
Cron must win a competition this spring to secure a spot on the opening-day roster. The 27-year-old began 2015 and 2016 with a starting spot in the lineup almost assured, but the club’s January signing of left-handed-hitting infielder Luis Valbuena has changed that calculus.
Valbuena is going to play, General Manager Billy Eppler has said, and there is no spot for him to do so besides first base.
If Cron were a traditional right-handed hitter, it would make sense for the Angels to platoon him and Valbuena, who has prospered recently against right-handers.
But Cron is not. In more than 1,100 plate appearances over three years, he has been much better against righthanded pitchers than lefthanders. He has a .273 average, .316 on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage against right-handers, but is .252, .289 and .409 against lefthanders.
That 90-point gap in onbase-plus-slugging-percentage is not big enough for Cron to believe.
“I don’t buy into all that splits stuff,” Cron said. “I think we live our whole lives hitting both sides. Some guys, you can tell a big difference from it, for sure, but other guys, they can just hit both sides. I don’t think I’m better against righties or lefties.”
Manager Mike Scioscia has on several occasions this spring noted Valbuena’s proficiency against right-handed pitching. Scioscia figures Cron will improve.
“A lot of what C.J.’s done is not quite the finished product and a full sample,” Scioscia said. “It seems like he’s been more productive against right-handed pitching. That’s just where it is right now. But he’ll adjust.”
Neither Scioscia nor Eppler has reached out to Cron since the Valbuena signing to discuss his status with the club, they said.
Cron said he refused to think “negatively about that kind of stuff.” He said he was expecting to play 162 games, and striving to be more consistent and less prone to the streaks that have become his signature.
“He’s shown potential, and he’s started to show the production that he’s capable of bringing,” Scioscia said. “You’re looking for that consistency, and a lot of times that’s just the experience facTEMPE, tor. Experience is gonna teach him the rest.”
Cron said he was happy to have Valbuena on the team, because the Angels lacked depth last year. But, he said, he believed he could be the team’s dependable first baseman.
“I know it’s in there,” he said. “I think everybody in this clubhouse knows it’s in there. I’ve just gotta show it a little bit more often.”
Short hops
Among the Angels pitchers to face hitters Tuesday were left-hander Tyler Skaggs, right-hander Ricky Nolasco, and right-hander Bud Norris, in camp on a minor league deal. … On Wednesday, right-hander Matt Shoemaker will face hitters for the first time since he suffered a fractured skull when struck by a line drive Sept. 4. … The Angels hired former big leaguer Jayson Nix as a pro scout. Nix joins Ben Francisco as ex-Yankees hired for that position by Eppler, who worked for New York for 11 seasons.