Cody Thomas
Cody Ryan Thomas
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 211 lb.
- School University of Oklahoma
- High School Colleyville Heritage High School
- Debut September 1, 2022
- Born October 8, 1994 in Colleyville, TX USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Outfielder Cody Thomas began his professional career in 2016. He had been taken by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 2013 amateur draft, but did not sign; he did sign after the Los Angeles Dodgers took him in the 13th round of the 2016 amateur draft.
He split 2016 between the AZL Dodgers and Ogden Raptors, hitting .297/.382/.621 with 19 home runs and 50 RBI in 59 games. He won the Short Season Joe Bauman Home Run Award that year. With the Great Lakes Loons in 2017, he slashed .222/.293/.409 with 20 home runs and 65 RBI. He began 2018 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
In 2018, he hit .285/.355/.497 in 127 games for Rancho Cucamonga, scoring 82 runs and driving in 87, with 35 doubles, 7 triples and 19 homers in what was a very good season. In 2019, he moved up to the AA Tulsa Drillers, playing 130 games and hitting .236/.308/.443. Even if his batting average and OBP fell markedly, he continued to hit with a lot of power, with 17 doubles, 6 triples and 23 homers. However, in a packed Dodgers system, he was unable to get a look with the major league team either that year or in 2020, when he was forced into inactivity by the shutdown of the minor leagues while the Dodgers went on to win the World Series. On February 12, 2021, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics alongside P Adam Kolarek in return for IF Sheldon Neuse and P Gus Varland.
Cody spent the 2021 season with the AAA Las Vegas Aviators, hitting .289 in 59 games with 20 doubles, 18 homers and 52 RBIs. He would have normally made his major league debut with the A's during that season but played his last game on July 25th because of an Achilles tendon injury. It took him a while to get back into playing shape, not being able to start a rehabilitation assignment in the Arizona Complex League until more than a year later, in August 2022. He played 6 games for the ACL Athletics before returning to Las Vegas on August 23rd, then after just 4 games there, was added to the A's major league roster on September 1st when teams were allowed to add two players. He started that day's game in left field, batting seventh, while the other call-up, Ken Waldichuk, was the starting pitcher against the Washington Nationals. He went 1 for 2 before being replaced by pinch-hitter Cristian Pache in the 7th inning, his first big league hit being a single off Paolo Espino in the 5th inning. In 10 games, he hit .267.
He again spent most of the 2023 season with Las Vegas, hitting .301 in 107 games with 23 homers and 109 RBIs. Given how badly the A's struggled that year, one would have thought he would be given an extended look at the major league level, but he played just 19 games for Oakland, hitting .238 with 1 homer and 2 RBIs. In 2024, he moved over to the Orix Buffaloes of the Pacific League in Nippon Pro Baseball, although the same problem awaited him there, as mostly played with the Buffaloes' ni-gun team in the minor league Western League.
While at the University of Oklahoma, Thomas also played football, manning the quarterback position. He is married to Shaley Witt, daughter of former major league pitcher Bobby Witt. That gives him three brothers-in-law who are also major leaguers: Bobby Witt Jr., James Russell and Zach Neal. The latter two are married to Nikki and Kianna Witt, who are his wife's sisters.
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