Cronenworth's first spring HR was unlike any he's hit -- and he's thrilled

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The temperature was up. The wind was blowing out. The run-scoring environment was as good as you’ll ever see it.

Still, Jake Cronenworth hit an opposite-field home run on Thursday afternoon, and that’s not something you see very often.

Actually, it’s something you never see. As in, across six Major League seasons, Cronenworth has never hit an opposite-field home run. Not once.

That dot beyond left-center-field? That’s Thursday’s home run. The other dots? All of Cronenworth’s regular-season homers from 2020-25.

It’s not that Cronenworth doesn’t have the power. He’s gone deep 80 times. It’s not that Cronenworth is a pull hitter. He routinely sprays the opposite field. It’s just that Cronenworth has never been able to blend the two.

He wants to change that.

It’d be easy to write off Cronenworth’s blast on Thursday afternoon as a one-off, a product of the environment. Cronenworth doesn’t think so.

“It’s stuff I’ve worked on in the offseason and in Spring Training, to be able to do that,” Cronenworth said. “Not necessarily changing my swing, but becoming more efficient in the way that I move toward the ball.”

Set aside Thursday’s homer. The Padres scored 27 runs, the most in the Cactus League since at least 2006 (when all Spring Training game data is fully available). They homered eight times. It’s possible this particular home run was aided by the environment.

Cronenworth might still be onto something. The ball left his bat at 104.3 mph. A few days prior, he sprayed an opposite-field double at 105.3 mph. Only once in the regular season has Cronenworth ever hit a ball to the opposite field above 104.3 mph -- and that was a ground ball.

“I felt like I’ve always had a good swing,” Cronenworth said. “But my ability to drive the ball the other way was limited to a line-drive double to left-center or a line drive down the line. It was never the smoked ball that turns the outfielder like I get pull-side.

“I think the way that I’m moving now and the work I’ve done in the offseason is allowing me to do that.”

Here’s the list of hitters who have gone deep more than Cronenworth without ever going oppo, since Statcast began tracking in 2015:

1. Didi Gregorius, 121
2. Isaac Paredes, 92
3. Ian Kinsler, 84

That’s a very pull-happy trio above Cronenworth. On the other hand, here’s the spray chart of Cronenworth’s non-homer hits, which are very evenly distributed:

New hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. certainly seems to think there’s a path to get Cronenworth off that list.

“His bat-to-ball is elite, his decision-making is elite, he does a lot of things that show that it’s in there,” Souza said. “We’re just basically trying to unlock him and put him in a position where he can use all the field, instead of being limited to pull-side damage.”

Shortly after Souza was hired by manager Craig Stammen, he phoned Cronenworth, who said he was open to any and all swing suggestions. The two parties got to work. The specifics of Cronenworth’s offseason adjustments were honed by the team’s research and development department and its strength team.

And while plenty of players are chasing swing speed these days, that’s not exactly what this is. Yes, Cronenworth says he’s seen an uptick in swing speed from last year’s 70.9 mph average. But that’s more a side effect. So is the opposite-field power, really.

“We are by no means chasing opposite-field homers,” Souza said. “It’s just a byproduct of having a good path. It’s using the big part of the yard. It’s just giving him the tools that, when he gets beat or maybe catches it a little deep, he’s still impacting the ball.”

The biggest change, per Cronenworth, is that his weight isn’t on his back leg for nearly as long. He’s moving more freely toward the baseball. That generates a cleaner path. It also generates a faster swing with his momentum moving forward.

The goal?

“Instead of that near miss as a 100 mph flyout to the warning track, now maybe it’s a 102 mph double,” Cronenworth said. “Or it carries and it’s a homer.”

If so, it’ll be a long time coming. As it stands, Cronenworth is approaching the Didi Gregorius 100-homers-all-to-the-pull-side club. Not that Cronenworth would be upset with a 20-homer season. He’s just convinced there’s opposite-field power to be tapped into.

And, yes, Cronenworth is keenly aware of those numbers. As my interview with him wrapped up, I informed him I’d been waiting a long time to ask him about an opposite-field homer.

“You’ve been waiting?” he laughed. “I’ve been waiting six years for one.”

If these changes take effect, he won’t be waiting much longer.