Can Rockies re-sign Cron?
Red-hot August has increased first baseman’s market value
Some might be surprised by the excellent season first baseman C.J. Cron is producing for the Rockies.
Not manager Bud Black. But even Black didn’t envision the kind of hot August days and nights Cron is putting together.
Entering Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Cubs at Wrigley Field — Tuesday night’s game was rained out — Cron led the majors in batting average (.418), slugging percentage (.836) and RBIS (28) in August. The 31-year-old was tied for second with seven home runs and ranked second in on-base percentage (.494).
“It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment,” Cron said Tuesday when asked when he started feeling like he was in the zone. “You are going to have your ups and downs over the course of 162 games. This has been the best stretch I have had here with the Rockies, so of course, it’s going to stick out more than anything else.
“But things like this come and go, so you try to stay with it as long as possible and focus on that. I’m going to just try to keep it going.”
Overall, Cron is batting .276 and leads the Rockies with 21 home runs and 71 RBIS. His .905 OPS is the best of his career. He likely won’t match the career-high 30 home runs he hit for
Tampa Bay in 2018, but he’s got a good chance to surpass the 25 he hit for Minnesota in 2019.
Late in spring training, when it was clear Cron would make the team after arriving at camp via a minor league deal, Black said: “We watched him in practice.
He’s in a good spot. Is the body firing? What’s the bat speed? How’s the defense?
“We’ve seen what we needed to see. We saw bat speed. We saw exit velocity. We saw him handling certain pitches you need to handle come April 1. Everything has lined up for him to be a productive hitter in our lineup.”
An injury to Cron’s left knee cap, and subsequent surgery, cut his 2020 season short after only 52 plate appearances with Detroit. He looked at Colorado as a place to revitalize his career.
“I think it was a good opportunity for me here,” Cron said during spring training. “A chance to get some at-bats and prove to everyone that I can still play.”
He’s certainly done that. Now the question is: where will he play in 2020?
Cron is a free agent and there are going to be some lucrative offers on the table, especially because the National League is likely to adopt the designated hitter next season. Cron could fill that role quite nicely. Cron is making $1 million with the Rockies this season after signing a one-year, $6.1 million deal with Detroit for the 2020 season.
Cron has not talked about his possible future with the Rockies, at least not in specific terms. Though he has said several times that he likes Denver and he likes the team chemistry he sees the Rockies building.