Jeter Deion Downs (born July 27, 1998) is a Colombian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadi ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB). He has played in MLB for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

. Listed at and , he bats and throws right-handed.

Early life and education

Downs was born on July 27, 1998, in San Andrés, Colombia. His father, Jerry Sr., had played professional baseball in Colombia. He was named for future

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball ...

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

. To facilitate better baseball opportunities for him and his brother, Jerry Jr., the family moved to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. Downs attended

Monsignor Edward Pace High School Monsignor Edward Pace High School is a Catholic secondary school in the Opa-locka North neighborhood of Miami Gardens, Florida. It was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2002 and one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the country in 2004 and 2005 ...

Miami Gardens, Florida Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located north of Downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th and Northwest 57th Avenues to its w ...

, and played for the school's baseball team as a shortstop. He committed to attend the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

on a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

scholarship.

Professional career

Cincinnati Reds

The

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

selected Downs with the 32nd overall selection of the 2017 MLB draft. He signed with the Reds for a $1.825 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. After signing, he was assigned to the

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, where he spent all of his first professional season, posting a .267

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

with six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s and 29

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs) in 50 games. Downs spent the 2018 season with the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. In ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganiza ...

where he hit .257 with 13 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases in 120 games.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On December 21, 2018, the Reds traded Downs to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

, along with

Homer Bailey David Dewitt "Homer" Bailey Jr. (born May 3, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds from 2007 through 2018, the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics in 2019 ...

and Josiah Gray in exchange for

Matt Kemp Matthew Ryan Kemp (born September 23, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He began his professional career in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 2003, and played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Dodgers fr ...

, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and cash considerations. He began 2019 with the

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and play their home games at LoanMart Field. The fra ...

and was selected to the mid-season California League all-star game and post-season league all-star team. He played in 107 games for Rancho Cucamonga, hitting .269 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs. The Dodgers promoted him to the Double-A

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

on August 20, 2019, where he hit .333 in 12 games with five home runs and 11 RBIs.

Boston Red Sox

The Dodgers traded Downs,

Alex Verdugo Alexander Brady Verdugo (born May 15, 1996) is an Mexican-American professional baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Verdugo in the second round of the 2014 MLB draft. He mad ...

, and Connor Wong to the

in exchange for

Mookie Betts Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Boston Red Sox. In 2018, while with the Red Sox, he becam ...

, David Price and cash considerations on February 10, 2020. Downs did not play during 2020, due to cancellation of the minor league season. Following the 2020 season, Downs was ranked by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form ...

'' as the Red Sox' number two prospect. Downs began the 2021 season in Triple-A with the

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. The ...

. In May, he was named to the roster of the

Colombia national baseball team The Colombia national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Colombia'') is the national baseball team of Colombia. The team represents Colombia in international competitions. History The Colombian national team first participate ...

for the Americas Qualifying Event for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. He was selected to play in the mid-season

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National Le ...

, where he went 1-for-2, driving in two runs with a double. In 99 games with Worcester, Downs batted .190 with 14 home runs and 39 RBIs. After the regular season, Downs was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fi ...

. On November 19, in advance of the Rule 5 draft, the Red Sox added Downs to their 40-man roster. Downs began the 2022 season with Worcester. He was added to Boston's major-league active roster on June 20, despite only batting .180 in 53 games for Worcester. Downs made his MLB debut two nights later, playing third base and going 0-for-4 at the plate against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

. He was optioned back to Triple-A the next day. Downs was recalled to Boston on July 9, when

Christian Arroyo Christian Israel Arroyo (born May 30, 1995) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, and Cleveland Indians. Lis ...

was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. That evening, Downs collected his first MLB hit and RBI, and then scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

. He hit his first major league home run on July 17 at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

. Downs was optioned back to Worcester on July 30, when Arroyo rejoined the team. In 14 games for the 2022 Red Sox, Downs batted .154 with one home run and four RBIs. In 81 Triple-A games with Worcester, he batted .197 with 16 home runs and 33 RBIs. Downs was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the play ...

by the Red Sox on December 15, 2022.

Washington Nationals

The

claimed Downs off of waivers on December 22, 2022.

Personal life

Downs' brother, Jerry Jr., played several years in Minor League Baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, Jeter 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Florida Billings Mustangs players Boston Red Sox players Colombian expatriate baseball players in the United States Dayton Dragons players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball players from Colombia People from Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Scottsdale Scorpions players Tulsa Drillers players Worcester Red Sox players Monsignor Edward Pace High School alumni