AUSTIN COX NAMED DOUBLE-A CENTRAL PTICHER OF THE WEEK

The Naturals’ left-handed pitcher has been honored for his performance the week of August 2nd through August 8th

In his lone start, LH Austin Cox fired 7.0 innings of one-run baseball in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Travelers on August 4, 2021. (Alan Jamison)

By Naturals PR Department

August 9, 2021

SPRINGDALE, Ark – Minor League Baseball announced the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for each of the respective Player Development Leagues and Naturals’ left-handed starting pitcher Austin Cox was named the Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week for his performance the week of August 2nd through August 8th.

SPRINGDALE, Ark – Minor League Baseball announced the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for each of the respective Player Development Leagues and Naturals’ left-handed starting pitcher Austin Cox was named the Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week for his performance the week of August 2nd through August 8th. This is the fourth consecutive week and the fifth time in the last six weeks that a Naturals player has claimed a weekly honor. Cox is the third Naturals pitcher to be recognized as the league’s Pitcher of the Week.

The Macon, Georgia native threw the first complete game of the season for a Naturals pitcher in his lone start this week, tossing 7.0 innings of one-run baseball in the second game of the doubleheader played against the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park on Wednesday, August 4th. He allowed just four hits and one walk, while striking out six batters to earn his fourth win in as many starts. Cox’s 1.29 ERA and 0.71 WHIP were the lowest among the league’s pitchers with at least 6.0 innings pitched this week, while his .167 opponents’ batting average was tied for the second-lowest mark in the circuit.

A fifth-round draft pick out of Mercer University in 2018 by the Kansas City Royals, Cox has started 12 games for the Naturals and has pitched to a 4-1 record with a 2.98 ERA (19 ER in 57.1 IP). Across his nearly 60 innings of work, the 24-year-old has struck out 48 batters while walking just 24 (2.0 K/BB). He’s pitched the second-most innings of any Naturals arm in 2021, behind Jonathan Heasley’s 74.1.

It is the 30th time in franchise history that a Naturals’ player has won the Pitcher of the Week award, as Marcelo Martinez was the last Northwest Arkansas pitcher to take home the honor, for his performance the week of May 31st through June 6th. Freddy Fermin was the most recent player to be honored with a weekly award, having been named the Double-A Central Player of the Week the week prior, for his performance the week of July 26th to August 1st. A Naturals player has been recognized with a weekly award now eight times in 2021, with MJ Melendez having claimed three Player of the Week honors in July and Alec Marsh was recognized as Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 4th through May 9th.

Between hitters and pitchers, eight weekly award winners in 2021 is already tied for the second-most awards in a season in Naturals’ history. The 2013 Naturals took home eight weekly awards as well (five hitters and three pitchers) while the 2010 team was honored 10 times (five hitters and five pitchers).

James Outman of the Tulsa Drillers (Double-A, Los Angeles Dodgers) was the Double-A Central’s Player of the Week after hitting .462 (12-for-26) and leading the league in hits, total bases (25) and OPS (1.495), while connecting on four doubles, three home runs and driving in four runs across Tulsa’s six-game series against the Springfield Cardinals.