Kansas City Royals Welcome Back Pitcher Austin Cox on Another Minor League Deal

Austin Cox has been a member of the Kansas City Royals since the 2018 MLB Draft, making his big league debut in 2023, and he is set to return to the organization in 2025.

Aug 10, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Austin Cox (53) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Royals have signed left-handed pitcher Austin Cox to a minor league contract, the club announced Thursday.

Cox, who has spent his entire professional career in the Royals' organization, elected free agency in November. The 27-year-old southpaw had previously been non-tendered in November 2023 and released from his ensuing minor league deal in July 2024, only to return to Kansas City each time.

So now, for the third time in 14 months, Cox has inked a minor league deal with the Royals.

We have signed LHP Austin Cox to a minor league contract.

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) January 2, 2025

Cox was the Royals' fifth round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, despite posting a 5.71 ERA across 179.2 innings at Mercer. As it turned out, Cox fared much better when he went pro, posting a 3.78 ERA in Rookie ball in 2018 before going 8-6 with a 2.76 ERA between Single-A and High-A in 2019.

Entering 2020, Cox was ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the Royals' farm system, and he moved up to No. 10 by the start of 2021. Cox went 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA across 15 Double-A starts in 2021, but fell to No. 19 in Kansas City's system after a spotty debut in Triple-A.

Cox spent all of 2022 in Triple-A, then finally earned his first major league promotion midway through 2023. He wound up making 24 appearances for the Royals – three starts and 21 relief outings – going 0-1 with a 4.54 ERA, 1.262 WHIP, 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.2 WAR.

However, Cox suffered a torn ACL and MCL damage when he got drilled by a comebacker in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 8, 2023. That spurred Kansas City to bump Cox off their major league roster, starting the cycle of minor league deals that continued this week.

After returning from his injury in April, Cox proceeded to go 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA, 1.549 WHIP and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024.

Cox will join the Royals for Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, but it remains to be seen if he will have a serious shot at earning an Opening Day roster spot.

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