Is Cron quietly having a good year?

[vladdy#27]

Since April 18th

Avg .297 HR 6 2B 13 OBP .343 SLG .478 (200 PA)

Since April 26th

Avg .301 HR 5 2B 13 OBP .345 SLG .485 (179 PA)

 

His strikeout/walk rates are trending in the right direction as well. 

2014 24.1%/4.0%

2015 20.3%/4.2%

2016 15.1%/6.5%

 

Not the biggest sample size but a potential bright spot in this dreadful season. 

[Angel Oracle]

I was surprised to see the .821 OPS over the past 10 weeks, not expecting it to be that good.

The OBP is encouraging.   Now if only he could play any kind of 1B defense, and send Pujols to a mostly permanent DH role after this season.

[stormngt]

Trade him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It won't last.

[Angel Oracle]

He has always been a tale of two seasons since 2014 (hot one half, cold the other half).

Here's to this season being different.

[Second Base]

I think Angels fans are disillusioned because Cron was supposed to replace Trumbo, and Trumbo has gone on to absolutely kill the ball in Baltimore while playing the OF, a spot where the Angels are in dire need.  Cron was also a first round pick and was expected to be a good cleanup hitter by now, but instead is now just beginning to establish himself.  He also hasn't come with any sort of on base ability, which sort of flies in the face of most refined collegiate hitters as he was.  The offense sucks, and since he isn't a superstar, he's easy to dislike.

He'll probably finish the year around .270/.320 with 30 DB and 15 HR, just not the numbers you expect to see from a 1B/DH, certainly not one as big and strong as he is.  There's still hope that he turns into the .280 25+HR hitter that he's capable of being but in all honesty, how long do we keep hoping for that before we realize he just won't do it?  Furthermore, let's say the adjustment is real and he comes into next year hitting the way he's capable of, what are the chances he gets traded as this organization rebuilds?

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

I understand that we all cherry pick stats at times but arbitrary dates aside for the year he's league average.  For his career his OPS+ is 105 but his SLG which is what you want or rather need out a of a 1B/DH type is nothing special.  If he were maybe the Angels 4th or 5th best bat he might be okay but they need more out of him and other guys in the line up.  

[Angelsjunky]

Too bad the season began a month earlier, otherwise those would be impressive numbers. Let's see how he does the rest of the way. If he continues at this pace then his numbers will be decent by year's end, maybe .280/.330/.450 with 20 HR - a modest breakout year.

[vladdy#27]

Maybe he can be a poor man's Billy Butler?

 

Butler in his first two seasons averaged .282/.334/.420 HR 10 WAR -0.7

Cron's first two seasons 

.260/.296/.444 HR 14 WAR 0.2

 

Butler took off in his third year

.301/.362/.492 HR 21 WAR 1.7

Cron since 4/18 on pace for

.297/.343/.478 HR 18 WAR 0.0

 

Both 1B/DH that have no business playing a position. Both first round picks Butler (14th) and Cron (16th). Kind of similar body types. Cron is 3 years older though. 

[fan_since79]

49 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

0 WAR on the year so he's been far from good.

I'll take his .317 OBP though. For Cron, that's a great accomplishment.

We're really in trouble if a .317 OBP from our #5 hitter is something to heap praise on.

What a season...

 

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

5 minutes ago, vladdy#27 said:

Maybe he can be a poor man's Billy Butler?

 

Butler in his first two seasons averaged .282/.334/.420 HR 10 WAR -0.7

Cron's first two seasons 

.260/.296/.444 HR 14 WAR 0.2

 

Butler took off in his third year

.301/.362/.492 HR 21 WAR 1.7

Cron since 4/18 on pace for

.297/.343/.478 HR 18 WAR 0.0

 

Both 1B/DH that have no business playing a position. Both first round picks Butler (14th) and Cron (16th). Kind of similar body types. Cron is 3 years older though. 

I think you're grasping at straws but I can appreciate the optimism.  Butler had a career OBP over .400 in the minors while Cron's was .337.  For every Billy Butler who took off in year 3 there's hundreds of guys who didn't improve and were average at best in their major league career.   

[AngelsLakersFan]

I went out on a limb around the start of this month and said Cron will end up with a wRC+ of 120. He's at 100 right now, so he's gona need to heat up. Interestingly he's been at 123 for the month of June, so it may end up being his April that costs him.

[kevinb]

6 home runs from your power hitting first baseman with a slugging percentage at 414 I think our 2nd baseman has numbers like that 

[totdprods]

I'm actually much more optimistic about Cron after watching him this year, and am hopeful what we are seeing is a young player consciously aware of his issues and working hard to correct them. It's like a trend you see with players in the minors where they can be red hot one moment and absolutely terrible the next. They're working on things and trying to take the next step, but Cron's are being magnified since he's in the bigs right now.

It's obvious he's trying to follow the org's new approach of cutting way down on strikeouts, increasing walks, making a lot more contact - an approach that actually fits Cron's skill set nicely. It's come at the expense of his power for now, but I think it's just a matter of time before that comes back. 

It'll be interesting to see where he ends up. I can see him having a ridiculous month or two still this summer with big power numbers, or having it all come together next year.

[mulwin444]

"Is Cron quietly having a good year? "

Very quietly...

[AngelsFanSince86]

16 hours ago, Kevinb said:

6 home runs from your power hitting first baseman with a slugging percentage at 414 I think our 2nd baseman has numbers like that 

Haha yep.  5'-8" Giavotella has 6 HRs and a .403 SLG%.

[Erstad Grit]

I see Cron as a pinch hitter who should get playing time now and then when he gets hot. 

[Brent Maguire]

He's definitely been better since April but this is the biggest issue with Cron. Each year he's been in the majors, he's had a downright terrible stretch that lasted about a month. The guy is plagued by inconsistency.

Also, you'd hope for a bit more than slightly above average offense from your 4/5 hitter who happens to play a terrible 1B. I like that Cron has cut back his strikeouts and raised his walk totals this year but it looks like it came at the expense of some more power. At this point, you need to just give Cron his everyday at bats for the next year and a half. Hopefully, he figures it out by the time 2017 ends and you either have a nice middle of the order bat or you have a nice trade chip. 

[Adam]

He's quietly being pretty mediocre

[Angelsjunky]

As of the 5th inning, Cron is now hitting .278/.332/.449 on the season. Maybe he is having a breakthrough after all. I'd love to see him turn into a .290/.350/.500 type.

[AngelsLakersFan]

On June 28, 2016 at 3:09 PM, AngelsLakersFan said:

I went out on a limb around the start of this month and said Cron will end up with a wRC+ of 120. He's at 100 right now, so he's gona need to heat up. Interestingly he's been at 123 for the month of June, so it may end up being his April that costs him.

He's moved all the way up to 113 115 119 121 since I made this post on Tuesday.

[Angelsjunky]

Holy Cron. He's now 5-5, and his season line is at .284/.337/.466, with a 119 wRC+.

His performance today has seen his fWAR increase by a whole 0.5. Incredible.

[Ohtaniland]

Like I said in a prior thread. If they just give Cron the permanent first base job and just DH Pujols we will see better results from both offensively.

[tdawg87]

Scotty is somewhere masturbating over the "I told you so" post he has typed up on his screen right now.

[Inside Pitch]

Every year Cron has his awful start levels up and at some point has his apeshit 3-4 weeks.   Wonder if this is the start of his apeshit month or just the benefits of Fenway Park.

[Inside Pitch]

11 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Scotty is somewhere masturbating over the "I told you so" post he has typed up on his screen right now.

Logged in to read Scotty's post...    He best not disappoint..