Healthy Cron makes bid for Red Sox's roster

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- While it hasn’t been a typical offseason and Spring Training for slugger C.J. Cron, he hopes to be a difference maker with a new team.

Having signed a one-year Minor League deal with an invite to camp on March 3, Cron made his first appearance with the Red Sox in Monday afternoon's 1-0 win against Pittsburgh.

The 10-year veteran got the start at first base, played four innings and went 0-for-2 at the plate, grounding out to short and popping out to second. While it’s just the first at-bats for Cron in an exhibition setting, the important takeaway is that he felt good. The 34-year-old is coming off a back injury that limited him to just 71 games played last year between the Rockies and the Angels, having made three separate trips to the injured list.

“Obviously the results aren’t great, but it’s all right, we’ve got a lot of time left,” Cron said. “It felt great to get out there with the team and get some [at-bats] under my belt.”

Cron is just two seasons removed from his 2022 All-Star campaign, in which he hit 29 homers and collected a career-high 102 RBIs. The season before, Cron clubbed 28 home runs, drove in 92 runs and posted a career-high .281 batting average.

Now, the 6-foot-4 right-handed hitter is hoping to fine-tune his swing to break camp with the club as a veteran who could bring some pop to a young Boston lineup.

“It’s just timing and playing the game,” Cron said. “You haven’t done it in so long -- just on your legs and getting into the rhythm of the game. Defense, offense, it’s all just kind of a rhythm thing, and we’ll figure it all out.”

As for how his back is feeling, Cron said, “Felt good. Felt a lot better than it did last year, that’s for sure. Hopefully we can keep this thing under control.”

Cron’s back ailments were his top priority all offseason and have been important for the Sox's clubhouse staff since he joined. Cron said once things flare up, it can be tough to calm them down, and he hasn’t been able to take a swing freely since last May.

“I think we have a really good plan in place here,” Cron said. “The training staff is making it priority that we do things a little bit differently in the weight room, in the training room, and hopefully that’s the main thing, is keeping it under control.”

With the tenure Cron has, he’s not too worried about joining camp this late into things.

“Obviously you want to do the best you can,” he said. “I think everybody in baseball knows it’s not just going to happen with the snap of a finger, but today is progress.

“As long as we keep progressing, I’m not worried at all.”

Neither is Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

“It’s not easy to start getting at-bats at this point, but he can hit. We know that. We’ve just got to make sure he’s healthy,” Cora said. “When he’s a full-go, we’ll let him go. Right now, he’s just in the early stages of his Spring Training.”

When healthy, Cron is a proven offensive weapon and can hit left-handed pitching at an above-average clip.

In 1,116 career plate appearances against lefties, Cron is slashing .266/.324/.490 with 55 home runs, 61 doubles and 181 RBIs. His bat could spell occasional relief for 24-year-old first baseman Triston Casas, a left-handed bat who has hit .214 against southpaws in his young career.

“We know [Cron] can hit lefties; now it’s just a matter of seeing where we’re at,” Cora said. “Hopefully he can make a tough decision on us. The more good players, the better it is for us.”