Jake Cronenworth was supposed to play a rehab game Thursday night with the El Paso Chihuahuas. He didn’t. But before anyone in San Diego hits the panic button, here’s what actually happened: a paperwork glitch.
The Padres second baseman is still working his way back from a fractured jaw, and Thursday’s absence had nothing to do with his physical condition. According to Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune, Cronenworth was held out of the game against the Sugar Land Skeeters because the approval process for a player on the concussion injured list didn’t get finalized in time.
“There was no setback,” Sanders posted on X. “Because he’s on the concussion IL, there is an approval process that was expected to be finalized before the game. It did not happen in time. Hope is Cronenworth gets in tomorrow’s game with El Paso.”
So yeah. Bureaucracy. That’s the whole story.
How Cronenworth Got Hurt
It happened on April 18 against the Los Angeles Angels. Yusei Kikuchi fired a fastball that caught Cronenworth square in the jaw. Somehow he stayed in the game that night. He even played 12 more games before the Padres finally put him on the IL. That’s a tough dude or a guy who really didn’t want to lose his spot. Probably both.
He hasn’t played in the majors since May 5.
The Numbers Before the Injury Were Ugly
Let’s be honest about Cronenworth’s 2024 season before he went down. It was brutal. The 32-year-old hit just .144/.272/.196 across 32 games and 114 plate appearances. One home run. Four RBIs. He walked 14 times and struck out 23. For a guy who signed a seven-year, $80 million extension in 2023, that’s not what anyone in the front office had in mind.
The Padres need Cronenworth to be something closer to the guy who made two All-Star teams early in his career. A right-handed infielder who can hit for average and play plus defense at first or second base. That version of him doesn’t exist right now. But you can’t judge him on 32 games either, especially when one of those at-bats ended with him eating a 95 mph fastball to the face.
Cronenworth is expected to get into Friday’s rehab game with El Paso. If everything goes smoothly, the Padres could have him back in the lineup sometime next week. And honestly, they need him. The offense has been inconsistent and the injury list keeps getting longer.
For now, it’s just a delay. A boring one. No setback. No drama. Just some paperwork that didn’t get done on time.
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