Jake Cronenworth’s grandfather and father both played hockey at Michigan Tech. An older brother laced up skates for Northwood University. Growing up, Cronenworth’s athletic endeavors were split between varsity quads on the rink and diamond at St. Clair High School in Michigan.
Yet for all his time on the ice in his second sport as a kid, Cronenworth never took a shot off his chin like he did on April 18 in Anaheim.
He was thankful that the 97 mph fastball from Yusei Kikuchi glanced off his shoulder before striking him in the face.
“Not like that, no,” said Cronenworth, who played center and was about 150 pounds as a senior. “That got me pretty good.”
Because he’s a hockey player at his core, Cronenworth stayed in that game after trainers tended to him for several minutes. He’s not the only Padre who grew up playing something in addition to baseball.
Bryce Johnson’s first love was football. He played on the gridiron at Cypress Ranch High School outside of Houston.
“Nothing beats game day with Texas high school football,” the 30-year-old Johnson said. “The pep rallies — all that. I was playing in front of almost 30,000 people my sophomore year. The lights were bright.”
Before Johnson settled in as the Padres’ fourth outfielder and speed off the bench, he was a wide receiver catching passes over the middle. He still thinks back to those days while watching his Texas Longhorns on Saturdays and the Houston Texans on Sundays.
“Football is what you eat for breakfast in Texas,” Johnson said.
The indoctrination wasn’t quite the same at West Covina South Hills High School, where Ty France prepped. But France said he relished his time under the Friday night lights as a freshman and junior, when he doubled as a fullback and linebacker.
“I was a glorified D-end where I just rushed every play,” France recalled. “At that time, I was bigger than most of the kids out there, so that was fun.”
Football was Jeremiah Estrada’s second sport, too, but his participation at Palm Desert High School ebbed after he sustained a leg injury while playing on the varsity team as a freshman.
“I was a stick,” Estrada said of his days as a 150-pound defensive back. “After that, my dad was like, ‘Don’t see yourself playing in another game.’”
Estrada could practice with the football team to stay in shape for baseball. He also played basketball and soccer, boxed and did jiujitsu.
“All just to be an athlete,” he said.
Likewise, Matt Waldron’s days on a soccer pitch were all about conditioning. He was also a shooting guard his freshman and senior year at Westside High School in Omaha, Neb., and even played a year of football.
“QB1, baby,” Waldron said with a laugh before adding, “It was in seventh grade.”
Even after choosing to focus on baseball, left-hander Kyle Hart played pick-up soccer and basketball games to stay in shape. He’s got a love for golf, too — Hart was among the Padres who played on the recent off-day in Denver. Though Hart admits he was initially turned off by the sport as a seventh-grader in Cincinnati.
“I hated all the rules,” Hart recalled. “I was at a match one time and I pulled my phone out at the seventh hole to text my mom that we had two more holes — ‘Can you come pick me up?’ The opposing team’s coach saw that I pulled my phone out and gave me a penalty stroke.
“I was like, ‘I’m done. You guys are dorks.’ I just played for fun after that.”
Jackson Merrill #3 and Ty France #25 douse Gavin Sheets #30 of the San Diego Padres in sports drink after his walk-off homer against the Colorado Rockies during the ninth inning at Petco Park on Friday, April 10, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The son of a major leaguer, Gavin Sheets played tight end and defensive end until realizing he needed to focus on fall baseball to get recruited. Sheets played some golf, too, and a lot of basketball at the Gilman School during baseball’s offseason.
“For Baltimore especially, you had to find something to do in the winter, because (it’s) the winter,” Sheets said. “And my dad always preached to me to be a two- and three-sport athlete. So I loved basketball. … I loved the movements. I still love playing pick-up games.
“There’s nothing better than (being in) basketball shape.”