TEMPE, Ariz. — C.J. Cron, who seemed to have an everyday job in the bag, knows just what to say about his now muddled situation.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Cron said Monday, before the Angels had their first on-field full-squad workout of the spring. “I’m not trying to impress myself. I’m just trying to play hard and give it everything I got. I don’t make the decisions so there’s nothing I can do about it. Just play hard and help the team.”
Cron begins spring training in a fight for playing time with Luis Valbuena, with General Manager Billy Eppler having already indicated that Valbuena “is going to play.”
For Cron, who hit 16 homers with a career-high .278 batting average in an injury-shortened 2016, it would seem to be a demotion.
Cron, 27, tries not to see it that way.
“I think we’re a better team,” he said. “Any time you can add a player of that caliber, that’s what we’re focused on. We’re definitely a better team with him on the roster. That’s how I approach it. I’m going to play my (butt) off and do whatever it takes to help the team.”
If Albert Pujols, who is coming off foot surgery, misses any time, it’s not an issue. Cron and Valbuena can both play, with one at first and one at DH. However, Pujols is already hitting and could be ready around opening day.
The logjam could also be alleviated if Yunel Escobar gets hurt, because Valbuena could play third.
When everyone is healthy, though, manager Mike Scioscia will have to decide between Cron and Valbuena. Running them as a straight platoon doesn’t work optimally because both players have done better against right-handed pitching, which is the opposite of what you’d expect from the right-handed hitting Cron.
Cron’s career OPS against lefties is .698, compared with .788 against righties. Scioscia didn’t have an explanation for why Cron has struggled more against lefties.
“I think C.J. is not quite a finished product,” Scioscia said. “He’ll adjust.”
Cron also can still be optioned this season, which is a possibility he’s trying not to think about.
“Everybody wants to play 162 games,” he said. “That’s our mentality going into the spring. Until that changes, that’s how I’m going to prepare.”
Cron and Valbuena are also coming off surgery, although neither is limited now. Valbuena had hamstring surgery in August. Cron had surgery on his wrist in October, his second surgery on his hand in four months. He had surgery in July after he was hit by a pitch, and toward the end of the season it started to bother him again, in a slightly different spot.
“I wasn’t thinking anything of it,” he said. “It wasn’t terrible. I could play through it, but at the end of the year when it didn’t go away in three weeks, I figure I might as well nip it in the bud.”
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