Buster Posey reaches new level of desperation with risky SF Giants call-up

The SF Giants announced on Sunday that they have called up prospect Jonah Cox straight from Double-A. To make room on the roster, Ryan Borucki was designated for assignment and Will Brennan was sent to Triple-A with Tristan Beck being called up from Triple-A as well.

Cox is a speedy outfielder who has been tearing it up for the Richmond Flying Squirrels this season. He is hitting .400/.453/.644 with six home runs, 35 runs batted in, and 27 stolen bases. He hits and throws right-handed so it seems like with Heliot Ramos and Harrison Bader on the IL Cox may end up getting a decent amount of playing time even though he isn’t in the lineup against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.

Similar to when the Giants called up Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez at the beginning of May, this feels like a move born of desperation from president of baseball operations Buster Posey and the front office.

Giants have called players up from Double-A before with mixed results

Giants fans can’t help but be reminded of when the team called up Wade Meckler back in 2023. Meckler had barely spent any time in Triple-A before he was rushed up to the big leagues to provide some some sort of spark to a struggling team but it was clear he was not ready and was demoted before the end of the season.

Of course, now Meckler is thriving with the Los Angeles Angels so that may be a perfect example of how patience can be the best practice with prospects.

To be optimistic though, here are success stories of players getting promoted straight from Double-A. Giants fans will remember that the decision to promote infielder Matt Duffy to the big leagues straight from Double-A back in 2014 proved to be a great one as he helped the team win a World Series. Giants great Pablo Sandoval was also called up straight from Double-A in 2008.

Looking around MLB, infielder Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers made the big league team out of spring training even though he’d never had an at-bat in Triple-A and he is a favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year award.

Maybe Cox will pan out, but typically when a prospect is promoted out of desperation because the big league team is on pace for one of the worst seasons in the history of the franchise it is not the best situation for a young player to thrive in.

Posey is clearly trying something, anything, to right the ship so maybe this move will bring about better results but it’s just as easy to see it blowing up in the team’s face.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow