"Why can’t it be about beating everyone else?” - Padres' Jake Cronenworth not bothered by Dodgers lineup, tired of spotlight on rivals

The Los Angeles Dodgers have garnered huge attention following a historic offseason but Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth is not buying it.

Jake Cronenworth, though, is least bothered about the NL West rivals being the team to beat this year and is instead focused on trying to beat everyone.

“Why does it have to be about beating them? Why can’t it be about beating everyone else?

"Or focusing on us ... I don’t get why everybody makes it about us finishing ahead of them. There are 29 other teams in baseball," Cronenworth said via via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

To put his point across, in the 2022 season, despite winning the division, the Dodgers fell to the Padres in the postseason.

“Yeah, so why is it about finishing ahead of them? They won the division in ‘22, and we beat them in the playoffs," he added.

The Dodgers have dominated the division in the last decade, having won 10 of the last 11 National League West titles.

The two teams kick off their regular season in Seoul, where they take part in a two-game series starting on Mar. 20 at the Gocheok Sky Dome.

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Jake Cronenworth evaluates his 2023 season and says he will carry the learning forward

Jake Cronenworth had an underwhelming 2023 season, where he only hit .229 for .690 OPS. He mentioned the lessons he craved from his last season and how he hopes to win for the team instead of having a nice at-bat for himself.

“I wanted to go up there and drive that guy in and hit a three-run homer with only one guy on base,” Cronenworth said recently via The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“I wanted to try to win the game now instead of just going up there and having a really good at-bat and let the next guy have a really good at-bat.”

Many reckon the seven-year, $80 million contract extension signed in the first weekend is one of the reasons for his seemingly poor season, but Cronenworth denied it.

“I don’t think it was necessarily living up to the contract,” he said. “I think it was just that I wanted to win more, and then we weren’t winning. And it wasn’t just me; it was the whole team. It seemed like we were trying to make things happen instead of just letting it come to us, which I think was pretty obvious."

"I think everybody was putting this pressure on ourselves to go to the plate and hit the five-run homer instead of just playing good baseball," he added.

Jake Cronenworth is now looking forward to a good year with a new-look Padres roster.