Flailing SF Giants call up hot-hitting Jonah Cox from Double-A, DFA embattled reliever

Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News on May 31, 2026

Published in Baseball

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The Giants, searching for ways to jumpstart what’s so far been an abysmal season, brought one of their top Double-A hitters to Coors Field on Sunday, promoting outfielder Jonah Cox from Richmond to the major leagues.

Cox made his big league debut as a pinch runner in the eighth inning and doubled in the ninth as San Francisco snapped a five-game losing streak with a 19-6 win over the Colorado Rockies.

The Giants on Sunday also optioned outfielder Will Brennan to Triple-A Sacramento, recalled reliever Tristan Beck, and designated left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki for assignment. Borucki, 32, had a 4.94 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched.

Cox, 24, was originally selected by the A’s in the sixth round of the 2023 draft out of Oral Roberts and was traded to the Giants for Ross Stripling in 2024.

As a junior at Oral Roberts, Cox led the program to the College World Series, finishing No. 8 in the final poll. For his efforts, Cox was named to multiple All-American teams.

Though not invited to this season’s spring training, Cox has made himself a viable major league option through 40 games in Richmond.

“I was definitely surprised,” Cox told the San Francisco Chronicle of receiving his call-up in a Richmond team meeting.

He was batting an even .400 with a .453 on-base percentage, 16 walks, and 27 stolen bases in 44 games in Richmond. Even within the context of being in Double-A, Cox’s production was impressive, joining Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as the only players in the Eastern League over the past 20 seasons to bat at least .400 over the first two months of the season. Mookie Betts batted .362 in 2014.

That level of production was enough to convince the Giants brass to give him the call-up to the majors, though manager Tony Vitello did not put him in Sunday’s starting lineup after a long travel day to join the team in Colorado.

“We did look at the lineup for a long time last night, just, what’s any one thing that maybe can again inject fresh blood or make today a little more exciting? And him being in there was a possibility until that flight,” Vitello told reporters in Colorado. “It’s just the travel got a little too crazy, but also we like what we got going on with the lineup today.”

By calling up Cox, the Giants also helped themselves from an asset management standpoint. Putting him on the roster avoided having the outfielder be Rule 5 draft eligible at the end of the season.

With Harrison Bader suffering through a bout with plantar fasciitis, there is room for Cox to receive immediate playing time. The only full-time outfielders currently on the roster are Victor Bericoto, Jung Hoo Lee and Drew Gilbert.