Padres’ Cronenworth Remains Resilient After Being Hit by Fastball

During Saturday night’s match against the Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth took a 96 mph fastball directly to the face but surprisingly stayed in the game as the Padres clinched a late victory, finishing 4-1.

Cronenworth, who’s already recognized as the Padres’ all-time hit-by-pitch leader, was struck on the jaw by a high pitch from Angels pitcher Yusei Kikuchi in the bottom of the fifth inning. The ball narrowly missed his shoulder and impacted his jaw instead.

There was a brief pause in the game while Cronenworth was evaluated by a trainer, but he chose to continue playing.

After the game, manager Craig Stammen joked, “He’s a hockey player; he didn’t even lose any teeth.” It seems the unwritten rule is that if you can still stand, you should stay in the game. That’s exactly what Cronenworth did—he endured the hit and even contributed later on.

Cronenworth reflected on the incident, noting this was the first time he had been hit in the face since his hockey days. “My initial thought was just to check if my jaw was okay,” he admitted.

The Padres’ win came alongside news reports indicating that the family of former team owner Peter Seidler is nearing a sale of the franchise. The Wall Street Journal suggested that a deal is in the works with private equity mogul Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones.

This potential sale could value the team at a staggering $3.9 billion, setting a new record for a major league club. The previous high was set in 2020 when Stephen Cohen bought the New York Mets for around $2.4 billion.