Red Sox's Jeter Downs: Sidelined with thumb inflammation
Triple-A Worcester placed Downs on its 7-day injured list Monday with thumb inflammation, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.
The injury is viewed as a minor one and isn't expected to keep Downs on the shelf for much longer than the minimum amount of time, but it's a frustrating development nonetheless in what's been a disappointing campaign for the 23-year-old. Back in spring training, Downs appeared likely to receive his first big-league call-up at some point in 2021, but that's no longer in the forecast while he's struggled to the tune of a .179/.263/.314 slash line over 336 plate appearances at Worcester. In addition to striking the ball with little authority (28.6 percent hard-hit rate), Downs has seen his strikeout rate balloon to 32.4 percent at Triple-A, a huge jump from the 20 percent rate he posted between stops at High-A and Double-A in 2019.
