DENVER -- Needing a spark, the Giants dove deep into their Minor League system to call up a kid who describes himself as a “hair-on-fire” player.
As they prepared to fend off the cellar-dwelling Rockies, who trailed the Giants by a half-game in the standings entering the finale of their three-game set Sunday, the Giants selected Cox’s contract from Double-A Richmond.
Cox, 24, got the news at a Flying Squirrels team meeting about how to handle oneself in the Major League environment.
“We talked about how to act like a big leaguer and the way you play,” Cox recalled.
Little did he know, he would end up being his manager’s “Exhibit A” at the end of the discussion.
Though flight delays kept him at O’Hare airport overnight for nine hours, Cox refused to let delay become denial. Flight logistics notwithstanding, it’s fair to say Cox arrived in the big leagues ahead of schedule.
The Giants were winning 14-6 when Cox came on in the eighth, quickly coming around to score on a Rafael Devers single aided by two errors.
“It didn't really set in until I was out pinch-running, and standing in the outfield taking it in,” Cox said of his big league moment. “It was like, ‘Oh, I used to sit in those seats.’”
He got his first at-bat in the top of the ninth and laced a double down the right-field line off Rockies backup catcher Brett Sullivan for his first hit.
“It's still kind of surreal,” Cox said after the game. “I don't know if it's really set in yet.”
It’s rare these days to see a player jump from Double-A to the Majors, and it can sometimes be an indictment of a team’s depth rather than a testament to a player’s early prowess, but Cox won a closer look by hitting .400 (64-for-160) with 11 doubles, five triples, six homers, 35 RBIs, 31 runs scored and 27 stolen bases in 44 games with Richmond this season.
“He certainly earned it,” manager Tony Vitello said. “As you can imagine, he's pretty juiced.”
Other Giants players to make the leap from Double-A to their debut include, most recently, Miguel Gomez (2017) and most prominently, Madison Bumgarner (’09) and Pablo Sandoval (’08).
“This momentum is something that I think will continue for him at this level, regardless of how long he's with us,” Vitello said of the Oral Roberts product.
Cox’s speed precedes him and has helped get him on the radar of prospect watchers, but he didn’t hit .400 through speed alone.
“My experience with all young players, the more physical you get, and the more experienced, the more at-bats you get, the better you become offensively,” Vitello said. “He's really swung the bat well.”
Cox already boasts a big league pedigree, with his father, Darron Cox, making the Majors as a catcher with the Expos for 15 games in 1999. He’s also married to Kate Cox, a successful college golfer who recently transferred to Notre Dame.
“I get to be a trophy husband in the offseason, which is awesome,” Cox said.
Bryce Eldridge is a familiar face in the Giants’ clubhouse for Cox, as the two played together in San Jose in the California League and in High-A in Eugene, both in 2024.
“He was a lot of my RBIs my first year,” Eldridge said, smiling at the memory. “He's also the reason I had a few stolen bases that year, because I'd be on first and he was on second -- he’d take third and I'd kind of sneak into second behind him.”
Cox wasn’t slotted for the big leagues as he started his fourth year of pro ball, and he spent Spring Training in Minor League camp.
“I was just kind of watching, [trying to] be seen but not heard,” Cox said of this year’s Spring Training.
Vitello considered starting him Sunday, but after Cox’s overnight ordeal at O’Hare, he decided to let him catch his breath before penciling him into the lineup card.
“It's an exciting day,” Vitello said of Cox’s arrival. “It's gorgeous outside, and you inject a little life into the locker room, and just the possibilities of what we might do with all the assets he has.”
In a corresponding move, the Giants optioned outfielder Will Brennan to Triple-A Sacramento. The club also recalled right-handed reliever Tristan Beck from Triple-A and designated left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki for assignment.