Tony Vitello may have to make difficult decision after SF Giants call up Jonah Cox

The SF Giants called up outfielder Jonah Cox straight from Double-A on Sunday. It was yet another desperate move from Buster Posey and the front office that could force manager Tony Vitello to make a difficult decision.

With Harrison Bader and Heliot Ramos both on the IL, the Giants have mainly had to lean on Drew Gilbert in center field, Casey Schmitt in left field, and Jung Hoo Lee in right field. Now with Cox in the mix, Gilbert’s spot in the lineup is far less assured. 

That puts Vitello in a tough spot because obviously he and Gilbert share a close bond going back to their days at the University of Tennessee. Vitello has spoken about how much Gilbert has meant to him and vice versa so there’s no way the skipper will relish having to bench his favorite spark plug.

Yet, if we learned anything from the way the Giants handled Bryce Eldridge when he was called up at the beginning of May, Cox will not be in the lineup every day.

The plan is for him to get the start in center field on Monday night but after that it becomes less clear how they will use him. A good guess is that he will get starts against left-handed pitching while Gilbert will get starts against right-handed pitching.

Gilbert likely to see reduction in playing time after Cox call-up

Gilbert’s overall numbers don’t jump off the page as he is hitting .237/.281/.395 on the season with three home runs and 12 runs batted in. Yet, all of that has come against right-handed pitching. He has faced lefties 22 times this season and has yet to reach base via hit or walk.

He has basically pigeonholed himself as a platoon bat so expect Cox to be used as a pinch hitter against lefties if Gilbert is due up.

There’s always a chance that Cox could just stay as hot as he was in Double-A and become the new starting center fielder, but it seems pretty safe to assume there is going to be a learning curve for the 24-year-old.

All of this feels eerily reminiscent of when the Giants called up Wade Meckler back in 2023. Cox and Meckler even wear the same glasses!

Maybe that’s a little wink from the baseball gods that the Giants have yet again called a guy up too soon or maybe with Wade Meckler currently raking for the Los Angeles Angels it’s a wink that the Giants are due some good luck on the prospect front.

Either way, Gilbert is going to see his playing time go down which will not be a fun conversation for Vitello to have. Gilbert will not be out of the picture entirely but until he learns to hit lefties he simply cannot be an everyday player.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow