Kansas City Royals: Prospect Q&A with pitcher Austin Cox

Austin Cox was drafted in the 5th round of 2018 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals and has quietly established himself as a can’t miss prospect.

If ever there were a prospect that has caught my attention this year not part of the fab-five, Austin Cox would be at the top of that list. Cox, 22, was a 2018 5th round draft pick by the Kansas City Royals out of Mercer College. In his junior season, he went 7-4 with a 4.52 ERA while tossing 87.2 innings and striking out 124 strikeouts. His 12.73 K/9 ranked ninth nationally and his strikeouts were the second-most in school history.

Cox got started with the Burlington Royals last season, making 9 starts while tossing 33.1 innings with 51 strikeouts to just 15 walks. He held opponents to a 0.228 batting average and spun a 3.78 ERA. This season, he split time between Single-A and High-A and made two playoff starts for Wilmington in their run to the Carolina League Championship. In those starts, Cox had a perfect 0.00 ERA in 12.0 innings of work with 14 strikeouts and held opponents to a ridiculous 0.186 batting average.

We had the chance to catch up with him about his 2019 season and other odds and ends.

Q: Coming from Mercer College, what was the draft process like for you and how interested were the Royals in you throughout the draft process? Based on the level of interest, was there a particular team you thought might select you?

A: I would say that it was a pretty normal draft process. I didn’t have much hype considering I was a little bit of a late bloomer, but I felt like it was a pretty normal process. Everyone in the draft kind of tries to keep their cards close to the vest so to speak, so in my mind, everyone had about the same amount of interest.