How Cronin keeps mind sharp off the field

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- When the Marlins claimed reliever Declan Cronin off waivers from the Astros on Feb. 7, it barely garnered any attention.

During the first half of the season, the 26-year-old right-hander has been one of Miami’s most important arms in the bullpen. What better way for fans to get to know Marlins newcomers both on and off the field than through a Q&A? In this installment, we catch up with Cronin.

MLB.com: You play chess. How long have you been playing, and are you any good?
Cronin: Definitely will never be a grandmaster. I started playing seriously [in] maybe May of 2023. I'm OK against casual players. I do pretty well, but obviously there's levels to it.

MLB.com: What made you start playing?
Cronin: It was just another thing to do on road trips besides watching television or stuff like that. I thought it was a positive outlet to get the mind stimulated and try to get better at something I'm not good at.

MLB.com: You studied history and philosophy in college [at Holy Cross]. What would you have done with that?
Cronin: That's a good question. I think my short-term plan was probably to go to law school, just because I didn't really know what else to do with that degree.

MLB.com: What's the one thing you remember that stood out?
Cronin: I really liked like German idealism, like [Immanuel] Kant and that sort of thing. But I also really enjoyed ancient philosophy. I took a seminar on Plato, which was pretty awesome.

MLB.com: If you could go back to a time period, what would it be?
Cronin: I always have to say the caveat of now is probably the best time to ever be alive, especially with modern medicine and where we are as a civilization, even though things aren't great. It's probably the best they've ever been.

That aside, I think it would be cool to go to Germany when the [Berlin] Wall fell and just experience that. I think that's pretty special.

MLB.com: Your significant other [Paige Monaghan] is a professional soccer player. How did you meet?
Cronin: We were actually set up by another couple. Her roommate on the collegiate national team, that girl’s now-husband, I trained with him during COVID. So I was with him every day. He was like, ‘You know, man, we've got to get you a girlfriend.’ So that's what happened.

MLB.com: How often do you get to see her play?
Cronin: On TV a lot, but not until after our season do I actually get to go and watch her in person. They actually extended their season a little bit this year, so, selfishly, I'm happy that I'll be able to watch more games, and it'll give me an excuse to go out to Utah. It's truly beautiful out there. You'll see me sometimes [when] I'll have my phone up like five minutes before game time, just getting as much as I can in.

MLB.com: Round 36 [when Cronin was selected] doesn't exist anymore in the MLB Draft. What would you have done?
Cronin: My short-term backup plan was if I was not drafted, I was not going to play baseball. I probably would not have signed a free-agent deal or done Indy ball or anything. So, thankfully, the Draft was that long back then. It's kind of crazy to think about now, how different things would be. My short-term plan was to go back to my high school and work for a year while studying for the LSAT. So this is way more exciting.