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When he was drafted he was labeled as a polished bat and average defensively.

I know he was labeled a polished bat coming out of college, but this is not the level of polished bat hitter.

I have heard that the starts slow and figures out levels, but he just hasn't hit all that well.
Were my expectations too high for a guy that was labeled a polished bat?

I cannot figure out why is he in AAA? he hasn't hit really well at any level and is absolutely blowing chunks against AAA pitching.

Anyone have a take on if this guy is headed toward bust, or is it that there is a lot of unfulfilled potential?
or.....?

just curious

Cox started very slow in AA last year but finished strong, hence the promotion. Not sure on this year. Maybe he's starting very cold again, maybe he was a fringe prospect whose game has fallen apart, maybe he's trying to go back to the power bat that he was before he changed his swing up and became a polished pure hitter.

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Everyone labeled him as Brett Wallace's clone.

Before moving to AA last year it took him forever to start hitting, and had no power...everyone was concerned and then bang off he went. Got moved to AA and looked over powered and over matched for a long time and then bang he started crushing the ball.

I don't know what it says about a guy that takes so "long" (this can be argued some guys spend multiple years at one place before moving up so actually he is quck in that area which should be encouraging but on the other side he was supposed to be elite and move fast so in that since it is taking him long) to adjust to leagues. He doesn't have a position...I see him as a bench player as long as he can learn multiple positions which I am weary of.

I bet he gets traded next year...I think trades will pick up and guys like Cox will be moved more often due to the draft changes.

Isn't 23 fairly young for AAA? I think 35 games is a bit concerned to be worried, BA liked him enough to make him enough to be a top 100 prospect.

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Unlike some prospects, he doesn't have a tool that you know (as much as you can) is going to translate at the MLB level. For instance, you could pretty safely assume Freese/Craig were going to be decent hitters. You can assume that Jackson will play pretty good defense. You know Rosenthal can throw high 90s. Chambers/Thler are fast. Etc.

At the same time, it's entirely possible that he ends up hitting for power, hitting for average and plays a slightly positive defense. He's still developing and he has shown an ability to adjust at every level. Rather or not he can adjust to AAA and then MLB pitching remains to be seen, but he's certainly shown the ability to adjust and if he can do that in the majors then he's an extremely useful player. If not, then he's not.

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It's still just his second year and he's in AAA. Who knows how he'll turn out, but I expect players to struggle when aggressively promoted. If it wasnt for his draft position and contract he would be starting AA this year. And when they don't struggle - like Taveras - you know you have something real special.

I don't think Cox is going to be anything special, but he was also never really billed as something special. Just a good hitting prospect. I haven't seen a lot to make me think he cant still do that.

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Cox is facing near-ML level pitching for the first time. Give it some time--at least a season before you write him off.

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Silence is golden.

I've never been a huge Cox fan, but I honestly think it's pretty impressive he's made it all the way to AAA this quickly. He made it on merit as well, as he was impressive in AA last year and made the AAA team out of ST.

He has a history of struggling at each level as he is promoted, and I also think it's ok to face adversity and see how a player responds. I'm still not convinced he's going to be a good regular in MLB, but give the kid some time.

1.122 OPS in his last 10 games.

If Matt Carpenter didn't make the ML roster to begin the year I think that Cox would've started the year at AA.