The Red Sox announced Monday that they have pulled prospective client Jeter Downs of Triple-A Worcester and nominated right-wing James Norwood for appointment.
This will be Downs’ Premier League debut when he first set foot on the pitch. Acquired with Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong in the trade that sent Muki Bates and David Price to the Dodgers, Downes was once widely ranked among the top 100 prospects in the sport, but saw his stock fall after a few poor performances in Triple -A. In 53 games so far with WooSox, the 23-year-old Downs has achieved only .180 / .297 / .397 with a strikeout rate of 31.1% in 222 appearances. This is actually a modest improvement over his struggles in a larger sample during the 2021 campaign. In total, he has already listed 627 participations in triple-A plates with only a slash .187 / .281 / .355 for that.
Despite these struggles, the Downs will get their first appearance in the major leagues and will give the Sox extra depth in the field at a time when Christian Arroyo and Enrique Hernandez are on the list of injured. The Premier League teams, which had 14 pitchers, also have to cut their pitcher staff to 13 by today, and Downs was already on the list of 40 people, making him an easy-to-remember name. They will need a place for 40 people after Arroyo is allowed to return from the list of Covid-related wounded, so identifying Norwood and briefly giving Downs a try to the majors is a sensible – albeit probably short-lived – path. which to take for now.
Norwood, acquired by the Phillies for money over the weekend, has never appeared in a game with the Sox before, which is now his third DFA in three months. The 28-year-old spent most of his spring training session with the Padres, but was appointed late in the camp and was later traded to Philadelphia for minor league player Kervin Picardo. Norwood showed great speed, ability to miss bats and the ability to keep the ball in the park during his 17 1/3 innings with Phils. However, he also walked too many attackers, struggled to interfere with runners (both inherited and those he allowed to reach the base) and generally gave too much hard contact.
In those 17 1/3 shots with Philly, Norwood was marked for an 8.31 ERA, which led to a career estimate of 44 1/3 innings to a bubble of 5.48. It is certainly possible that Norwood’s average fast top and splitter with a speed of 96.8 mph, which comes with a speed of 42.7%, will make him look at another team, be it through rejections or another small deal. However, he does not have the opportunity for a minor league, so any interested club will have to include him in the list of 40 people. The Red Sox will have a week to exchange Norwood, try to hand him over through outright denials, or release him.
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