The National Baseball Congress announced today that Colorado Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron is the 2022 NBC Graduate of the Year. Cron played in the NBC World Series in 2009 as a member of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaska Baseball League. During the 2009 NBC World Series, Cron played in four games, starting in two of them, and recorded nine defensive putouts.
The Graduate of the Year Award has been presented to an NBC alumni member every year since 1975, based on their MLB performance in the previous season. Past winners of the award include Aaron Judge, Hunter Pence and Ian Kinsler.
Born in Fullerton, California, Cron was drafted as the 17th overall pick of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Angels, and made his MiLB debut with the Orem Owlz of the Pioneer League. His Major League debut came in 2014 with the Angels, and he spent time with the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers before joining the Colorado Rockies in 2021.
During the 2021 season with the Rockies, Cron batted .281 with 28 home runs and a career-high 92 RBIs and 70 runs scored, and he was named an MLB All-Star for the 2022 season, representing the Rockies in Los Angeles.
