When the 2017 season began for Jeter Downs he was playing for his high school in Florida. After a successful senior season the Cincinnati Reds took the shortstop with the 32nd overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft. His first assignment was with the Billings Mustangs in the Pioneer League. He joined the team on June 29th and began his career with an 8-game hitting streak, going 10-27(.370). He walked as often as he struck out in that span and also crushed two home runs. In the second half of July he would go into a slump, hitting just .188 from July 16th through the end of the month. In the 22 games from June 29th through the end of July he hit .257/.389/.378 with 15 walks and 15 strikeouts.
After not playing for for four days, Jeter Downs was back in the lineup on August 3rd. The first two games back saw him go 1-4 in each, but he went 0-10 in the following three games. The now 19-year-old would catch fire of the next 11 days, hitting .333 with a double, two triples and two home runs. He also struck out just three times in the span with two walks. He would go 0-9 over the next three games. Things would heat up once again and remain that way over the final two weeks of the season. In that span the infielder would hit .371/.478/.571 for the Mustangs. He would walk eight times with just five strikeouts in that span, adding two home runs along the way. From the start of August through September 8th he would post a .276/.356/.459 line.
For all 2017 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Jeter Downs Spray Chart
Jeter Downs Scouting Report
Hitting | Jeter Downs can and does use the entire field – though he really struggled to find hits in 2017 when going the other way. Scouts generally believe in his hit tool, though, which grades out as average to above-average depending on who you were talking with.
Power | He shows good bat speed and strong wrists. He has average to slightly above-average power potential with 15-20 home runs not being out of the range of expectation in the future.
Running | He’s a slightly above-average runner right now. Every so often he’ll flash above-average speed.
Arm | His arm is quite strong and is above-average. It will play well anywhere he winds up on the field.
Defense | For now, Jeter Downs shows the range to remain at shortstop. Some are concerned that he will eventually need to move off of the position. He made 18 errors in 49 games in the field, posting a .911 fielding percentage. 15 of those 18 were of the fielding variety.
Jeter Downs is viewed more as a bat-first middle infielder. There are some who believe he’ll move off of shortstop, though not everyone believes that. His bat looks like it should play anywhere that he will wind up on the defensive spectrum. The bat would be well above-average if he can remain at one of the up-the-middle positions, but if he eventually has to slide to third base, it projects to play there as well. At the plate his approach is advanced for his age, already walking nearly as often as he strikes out. You would like to see him do better when he goes the other way than he did in 2017 moving forward, though. Defensively he’s going to need to make improvements with the glove. As noted, 15 of his 18 errors in 2017 were of the fielding variety. The overall package is enticing, with all five of his tools being at least average, and some better. There’s still some work to be done, but Downs is out to a good start to his career.