After stellar debut, 23-year-old Giants rookie earns his 1st MLB start Monday night
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- Jonah Cox, 23, was named to start in center field for the Giants in Milwaukee.
- Cox debuted as a pinch runner, scored and doubled in his first MLB at-bat Sunday.
- Cox hit .400 with 27 steals and 22 extra-base hits in 44 games for Richmond.
Jonah Cox isn’t ranked among the San Francisco Giants’ top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline.
Days ago Cox was still with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels. Now, he’s an MLB starter.
After a stellar debut Sunday, the Giants announced Monday afternoon that Cox would start in center field and hit ninth when the Giants take on the Milwaukee Brewers at 4:40 p.m. Monday in Milwaukee.
Cox, 23, entered Sunday’s game against the Colorado Rockies as a pinch runner in the top of the eighth inning, later scoring, before hitting a double down the right field line in his first Major League at-bat in the ninth.
His 101.5 mph line-drive double was the final offensive push in a 25-hit, 19-run Giants effort that led to a convincing win over National League West rival Colorado Rockies to stay out of fifth place in the division. The win was a bright spot in a tough start of the season for the 23–36 Giants, also showcasing the young talents of Cox and top prospect Bryce Eldridge, who had his first four-hit game.
Being from Louisville, Colorado, a suburb of the Rockies’ home Denver, the strong performance against his hometown team meant even more for Cox.
“It was like, ‘Oh, I used to sit in those seats,’” Cox said, according to MLB.com. “It’s still kind of surreal.”
In his first two seasons in the Minor Leagues, Cox had established himself as a power-speed threat, but hadn’t made national waves across Rookie and various levels of Single-A ball. However, Cox had turned his game to another gear in 44 games this season with Richmond before his call-up, hitting .400 with 27 stolen bases and 22 extra-base hits.
A call-up directly from Double-A is becoming increasingly rare, with many top prospects spending time in Triple-A, though Cox’s recent surge, coupled with the Giants recent struggles allowed him to buck that trend.
“He certainly earned it,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said Sunday, according to MLB.com.
