David Frerker-Imagn Images

Padres' Jake Cronenworth Responds to Dodgers Rivalry Claim

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Griffin Goodwyn | Last updated Jun 27, 2025 2:30 PM ET

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have all the ingredients for a fruitful modern-day rivalry – highly-competitive matchups, frequent bouts of tempers flaring and some of the most well-known players in MLB.

While many in the baseball world consider the two squads to be rivals, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy offers a contrarian point of view, claiming that his team has one, and only one, true rival: the San Francisco Giants.

"I don't like it when people say you have rivals. I just think, if you have a rival, it's your counterpart. And that's always going to be the Giants for the Dodgers, at least," Muncy said in an interview with Foul Territory TV posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on June 9. "For me, your rival is just one team. You don't have multiple teams as your rival."

Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth agrees to disagree on the topic. While he understands the Dodgers and Padres may not share a mutual animosity like other MLB teams, like the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, he still considers the two Southern Californian teams to be rivals.

"It's been a battle every single year against those guys. We beat them in '22 in the playoffs; they beat us last year in the playoffs and go on to win the World Series," Cronenworth said in a separate Foul Territory TV interview posted on Friday. "Between us two, within the last handful of years, that's, for sure, a rivalry."

While superstars like Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. headlined the two teams' most recent series of dustups, which revolved around a string of hit-by-pitches, Cronenworth himself has had his fair share of moments against the Dodgers.

In 2021, Cronenworth suffered a small fracture in his left ring finger after being hit by.a pitch from Dodgers hurler Julio Urias. Cronenworth then notched a game-winning two-run single against the Dodgers in game four of the 2022 National League Division Series that helped the Padres advance to the next round of the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: