In April of last year, Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch at Wrigley Field. At the time, he wasn’t sure how bad it was, but he could handle the pain — so he kept on playing.

The next day, he hit a home run against the A’s in Sacramento. By the end of the week, he was placed on the Injured List with what x-rays revealed was a broken rib, an injury that cost him the next month. It cannot be overstated, with the torque placed on the midsection during a baseball swing, how tough a dude has to be to hit a bomb with a busted rib.

“Obviously … that was, that was very cool. Yeah. I mean, I wish it wasn’t with a broken rib. I wish it was with a healthy rib so I wouldn’t have missed 30 days,” says Cronenworth. “But, I learned a lot about myself through that time that I missed.”

That story is about as good a representation of who Cronenworth is as you’re going to find. Entering his seventh season, all in San Diego, he was asked to describe himself as a ballplayer.

“It may not be the flashiest. It may not be 30 homers or 50 doubles. But one thing that I did think about was, you know, I show up to the field every night and how am I going to be remembered? How am I performing on the field that is going to leave a lasting impact?” says Cronenworth. “And I think it’s the way I play. I like to play hard, I run the bases hard. It may not be the best night at the plate but I’m grinding my butt off up there, playing hard on defense. That’s who I am as a player, for sure.”

Because that’s who he is as a player, Cronenworth’s name seems to come up every winter in trade talks, but by mid-February, he’s reporting to Peoria, AZ, with the Padres. Cronenworth brings intangibles that can’t be coached, and are extremely hard to find, but that’s just part of the reason he’s one of the more underrated 2nd basemen in the game. The guy produces, too.

According to FanGraphs, in 2025, Cronenworth was 7th among 2nd basemen in WAR, a number that would get him an estimated $23 million as a free agent (making the $12 million he’s making look pretty good by comparison).

This is one of the few offseasons where President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller did not make a massive roster overhaul, so this group is very familiar with one another. It’s been said that sometimes it’s not the best team that wins … it’s the closest team that comes out on top. That might be the case for the 2026 San Diego Padres.

“I think there’s a lot to that statement. This club is super close, man. I mean, look at the amount of guys that showed up here three or four days before FanFest to work out with each other, coming from across the country,” says Cronenworth. “To be with this group, the conversations we’ve had this offseason, I know guys are probably hungrier than I’ve ever seen.”

Jake has been part of the Padres championship window for more than half a decade now. National media outlets talk about that window being ready to close in San Diego. Cronenworth sees things very, very differently.

“We don’t believe it. The group is really talented, super close,” says Cronenworth. “We obviously have a great fan base, great stadium. You know, it’s there. And I think it’s just now for us to go out and execute it.”

The Padres play their first Cactus League game in Arizona on February 20 against the Mariners. Opening Day at Petco Park is March 26 when the Friars open up against the Detroit Tigers.