Cron finding 'happy medium' at the plate

DENVER -- Rockies manager Bud Black liked the young version of C.J. Cron, and had a hunch that the mature version could be an asset.

On his fifth team in five years, Cron is applying the lessons from his travels. Going into Saturday night’s game against the Marlins, Cron was hitting .249 with 16 home runs, including two in Friday night’s 14-2 victory over the Marlins. More importantly, Cron has an .827 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging), and serves as an example of how patience equals productivity.

The Rockies signed Cron to a Minor League contract that became a $1 million, one-year deal once he made the club. His presence serves as an example of what happens when a hitter knows when to swing hard (.467 slugging percentage) and when to not swing at all (.360 on-base percentage).

Black was working as a front-office advisor with the Angels in 2016, when Cron was serving as a designated hitter while Albert Pujols manned first base. The ability to do damage was present, if the patience wasn’t. But last winter, Black recommended the club sign Cron, who had hit 30 home runs for the Rays in 2018 and 25 for the Twins in 2019. Cron played for the Tigers last season and was lost to a knee injury after 13 games, but his OBP had spiked to a career-best .346.

If Cron stayed healthy, could he provide the Rockies a power hitter who could scare opposing pitchers out of the strike zone?

“He wanted to improve on his walk rate and his on-base percentage,” Black said. “Early in his career, not so much. But in a very small sample last year, the walks came in Detroit before he injured his knee. A lot of times, guys with power will draw walks if they're patient and they're selective. They control the strike zone because pitchers are afraid of power and they'll pitch defensively.”

Cron started slowly, which he often does, but found his stroke before missing 11 games in May, when a back injury mitigated his impact in the home run category. June was his biggest home run month, with six, although his average (.220) and OBP (.293) were his lowest of the season. But in every other month, his OBP was .360 or higher. That’s staunch discipline for a player whose career OBP entering the season was .312.

“The more you're in the league, and you see pitches, and you see how teams try to attack you, it's a little bit easier to kind of think of a game plan and pick your spots,” Cron said. “I still like to swing the bat. I still swing with aggression. Just trying to find a happy medium.

“When I get in trouble, for me, it's always the opposite of aggression -- kind of lunging at balls. I don’t want to put weak contact on the right side. Usually if I'm trying to get back on track, it's always to be more aggressive and to try to attack the ball.”

Cron’s approach is as good as any in dealing with the tangible difference in atmosphere between home and road games -- the degree of which even knowledgeable statistical analysis can’t grasp (playoff teams often have mediocre advanced numbers even if some traditional ones portend success) and no other team faces.

Cron has a decided difference, home to road, in batting average (.289-.207), home runs (13-3) and slugging percentage (.617-.307). But even with the difference in OBP (.392-.325), he’s reaching at a higher clip than his previous career rate.

Veteran Charlie Blackmon is similarly stingy with his at-bats home and road, and rookie Brendan Rodgers has a short swing that could lead to more bat control regardless of where games are played. Ryan McMahon is a threat on the road when going well, although he needs more consistency. Roster-wide, Cron can serve as an example.

“We've talked about as a as a team the last couple of years, trying to increase the walk rate, trying to cut down on the strikeouts and trying to control and improve our overall chase rate individually and as a team,” Black said. “Cron’s on-base percentage -- I think it's right about 100 points higher than his average. That’s well-above average. Guys see C.J. getting on base due to the walk. We have some guys that I think fit that profile.”

With a solid starting rotation in tow, the Rockies are in position to approach the offseason like a contender, which means building the offense. A step cold be re-signing Cron.

Going into Saturday, Cron’s OPS was fourth-highest among National League first basemen. He makes considerably less than leader Max Muncy of the Dodgers and Freddie Freeman of the Braves, who are on multi-year deals, and the third-place man, the Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins, whose one-year deal in his final year of arbitration pays $4.8 million.

With other teams potentially in competition, will the Rockies find a rate to retain Cron in 2022 and possibly beyond? If he comes in at a modest figure, the Rockies could have a guy with some experience at altitude and have more to spend significant on offensive additions and add to the bullpen.

“Over my career, I've never been a big contract guy -- I've been going team to teams kind of trying to fill some needs,” Cron said. “So it obviously would be nice to get a home somewhere. Sticking with something is something that I’m super interested in, but that’s my decision at the end of the day. I’m going to keep playing.”