![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778787382_151_0x0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
GOODYEAR, AZ: Jonah Cox of the San Francisco Giants steps up to bat in a spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Dean\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Jonah Cox is not atop any prospects list. So what? The San Francisco Giants\u2019 prospect leads every player in the Double-A Eastern League in batting with a blistering .417 average.<\/p>\n
The outfielder also is tied for the most triples (4), second in hits (43), on-base percentage (.474) and OPS (1.173) and tied for second in RBI (29), stolen bases (19) and total bases (72).<\/p>\n
Not bad for a sixth-round pick acquired in a February 2024 trade from the Oakland Athletics for journeyman pitcher Ross Stripling. Cox talked about the deal and his early career with Roger Munter of There R Giants on a podcast<\/a>. It gives an insight into Cox\u2019s goals, maturity and humble approach as well as how he learned from the late Athletics\u2019 legend and Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson.<\/p>\n RICHMOND, VA: Jonah Cox of the Richmond Flying Squirrels races towards third base on the way to scoring against the Somerset Patriots at CarMax Park on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Matthew Mitrani\/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Minor League Baseball via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a familiar name that popped out at us as we were going through the A\u2019s system,\u201d said Farhan Zaidi, the Giants\u2019 director of baseball operations at the time. \u201cReally good athlete, can really run, can really play center field. He\u2019s not coming from one of the bigger college conferences, so expect some adjustment with the bat. But he had an outstanding \u201923 college season. We think with a little bit more adjustment to pro ball, the bat can come along, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Zaidi, replaced by retired Giants playing legend Buster Posey in September 2024, may have left the franchise with a gem of a player who has seemingly made those adjustments.<\/p>\n The son of former big league catcher Darron Cox got a modest $300,000 to sign with Oakland as the 166th overall pick in 2023. He had gained attention by swiping 120 bases total in one season apiece at Butler (KA) CC, Eastern Oklahoma State JC and Oral Roberts. <\/p>\n As a junior at ORU, he had a 47-game hitting streak<\/a> and went hitless just twice in 66 games, batting .412 with 69 runs, 68 RBI, 11 homers and 28 steals.<\/p>\n That speed has translated well on the bases and in the field as a professional. The other parts of the 24-year-old\u2019s game are catching up.<\/p>\n The Need For Speed<\/p>\n Recent rules changes have made Cox\u2019s choice commodity \u2013 speed \u2013 especially valued. Teams are placing more emphasis on the running game, where he is nearly unstoppable, pilfering 155 bases while being thrown out only 25 times as a pro.<\/p>\n It also translates in the field. In more than 1,700 pro innings in center field, he has a range factor there of 2.93 per game. Range factor is a stat seldom talked about as it includes a wide variable of data used to try to approximate a fielder\u2019s worth. <\/p>\n So is 2.93 good? <\/p>\n PHILADELPHIA: Willie Mays, center fielder for the San Francisco Giants, and Richie Ashburn, center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, before a game in the late 1950s. (Photo by Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n According to stats on Baseball-Reference.com, only three center fielders in MLB history have a better career number. Two are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Richie Ashburn (3.016 for 15 seasons) and Max Carey (2.959 over 20 seasons). The other player is Dwayne Murphy (2.984 over 12 years).<\/p>\n Other Hall of Famers ranking highly are Andre Dawson (No. 10), Kirby Puckett (15), Robin Yount (20), Carlos Beltran (22), Joe DiMaggio (27) and Andruw Jones (30). Yount\u2019s fine catch with two outs in the ninth inning<\/a> robbed Eddie Murray from breaking up a no-hitter.<\/p>\n The top active MLB center fielder is Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners with a .2611 range factor, 39th overall for a career.<\/p>\n While most valuable in center, Cox also is spectacular in right field or left as he showed by snaring the final out of a game with a great effort<\/a> last year for the Eugene (OR) Emeralds.<\/p>\n The Need For Improvement<\/p>\n At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Cox is too solidly built to be a slap-and-run singles hitter. Giants instructors are working to unlock more power.<\/p>\n With 17 of his 43 hits thus far going for extra bases (9 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homers) for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Cox\u2019s slugging percentage of .697 is third in the league and by far the best of his career.<\/p>\n On May 6th, Cox displayed both bunting and home-run prowess<\/a> in a win at Akron. He beat out a bunt single and later delivered an opposite-field homer in the ninth inning that turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 win.<\/p>\n A good nickname for him would be \u201cThe Human Highlight Reel\u201d.<\/p>\n Not Just Another Nickname<\/p>\n Bob Ferguson has two claims to fame. He was the pro game\u2019s first switch-hitter in the 1860s. He apparently played good defense as he was given the formidable yet clumsily nutty nickname of \u201cDeath To All Flying Things\u201d.<\/p>\n While sounding like a boast straight from a Middle Eastern conflict, Ferguson earned the moniker as an infielder adept at catching popups with his bare hands. Later in his career he wore mittens, the first crudely made fielding gloves.<\/p>\n SEATTLE: Franklin Gutierrez of the Seattle Mariners catches a fly ball hit by Juan Uribe of the Cleveland Indians at Safeco Field on June 8, 2016. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n Ferguson\u2019s teammate Jack Chapman also fielded well and the nickname was applied to him. Nearly 130 years later, Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus \u201cappropriated\u201d the nickname for fine-fielding outfielder Franklin Gutierrez.<\/p>\n Gutierrez\u2019s agent missed a great marketing ploy. The good-natured Venezuelan would have made a good commercial spokesman for a flying insect spray by that nickname.<\/p>\n Jonah Cox\u2019s Future With San Francisco Giants<\/p>\n The big-league team needs offensive help. San Francisco is last in MLB in runs per game (3.47) and stolen bases (12).<\/p>\n