Jonah Cox's rookie season with the SF Giants has one glaring wrinkle

Jonah Cox has displayed a dynamic skillset for the SF Giants in his rookie season. While there have been some positive qualities, his strikeout rate will need to show improvement.

Cox does a lot of things well on the baseball field. He is a solid defender in center field and has picked up some innings at second base recently, along with being an above-average base stealer. Even if he does not get a hit, he can still find ways to impact the game.

The Giants have had fast runners in recent years, but not quite with Cox's speed. It helps him steal bases at an efficient rate, and it puts pressure on the defense when he puts the ball in play.

On several occasions, the rookie hitter has shown how his speed can disrupt the defense and force them to make errors. Even on routine plays, the infield defense needs to work a little quicker when he is running down the line.

That has been on display when he puts the ball in play, and the Giants will want to see more of that next season. Overall, he is slashing .259/.307/.392 (96 wRC+) with four home runs, 16 RBI, and 25 runs in 161 plate appearances. This includes an alarmingly high 38.5 percent strikeout rate.

Cox is not the first rookie to struggle to make contact against major league pitching, and certainly will not be the last. Aaron Judge posted a strikeout rate north of 40 percent during his rookie season in 2016. That number has come down, but he still strikes out at a relatively high rate. It is easy to overlook that because he has become one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball history.

Jonah Cox has struggled to make contact on pitches in the zone

On the other hand, Cox is hoping to carve out a role with the club in 2027. A high strikeout rate could be due to a few factors. Being too passive at the plate is one of them. That is not an issue for Cox, as he is an aggressive hitter, both on pitches in and out of the zone. On pitches in the zone, he has a 71.4 percent zone contact rate, which is among the lowest in baseball. Only Munetaka Murakami (70.4 percent zone contact) of the Chicago White Sox has a lower zone contact rate among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances. A low zone contact rate usually points to high strikeout totals.

That number is concerning because it highlights troubling bat-to-ball traits. He has struggled to make contact against all types of pitches, which is not too surprising given his high strikeout rate.

Players can and do show improvement in this trait all the time, but more often than not, these players still display high strikeout rates. The Giants will need Cox to bring that rate down to below 30 percent.

The right-handed bat is not necessarily a quality-of-contact type of hitter, but good things happen when he puts the ball in play. He has a .429 babip, which is likely due for regression, but it highlights that he has had success when he puts the ball in play. For 2027, the Giants will want to see Cox do more of that.

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