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Williams Jerez, Boston's second-round selection from the 2011 MLB amateur entry draft, will miss the rest of the 2012 campaign after sustaining an injury to his thumb. Jerez was playing with the Lowell Spinners in the short-season New York-Penn League, hitting just .241/.276/.277 in 87 plate appearances.
It's always a shame when a player is injured, but it hurts a little more for Jerez, who already was living at the back end of top 20 lists, and is all of 20 years old. You'd like to see someone this young and this raw have more time to refine their game and their skill set, but that's difficult to do when watching from the bench, ineligible due to injury.
Given he didn't exactly solve Lowell, it's likely that Jerez will return there once again in his age-21 season, as he now no longer has the chance to work himself into a position where he ends up starting the 2013 campaign with full-season, Low-A Greenville.