Red Sox farm update: July 18th

Sep 7, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; General view of the field box seats prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Final Score: New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5, Sea Dogs 4

Notable Position Players:

Carlos Asuaje (3-4, 2B, BB)

Tzu-Wei Lin (0-5)

Manuel Margot (2-5, SB, K)

Henry Ramos (0-4, BB)

Blake Swihart (1-4, 2 K)

Sam Travis (2-5, HR, K)

• Travis’s transition from Salem to Portland has gone mostly smoothly, but with a .293/.355/.402 slash line, he still isn’t showing the power that he was in the Carolina League. Last night’s game is a step towards fixing that as Travis hit his first homer with the Sea Dogs.

Mar 7, 2015; Sarasota, FL, USA; A detailed view of Boston Red Sox left fielder

(5) bat as he holds it before a spring training baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at

Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

High-A Salem Red Sox

Final Score: Red Sox 6, Lynchburg Hillcats 4

Notable Pitchers:

Trey Ball (5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 6 BB, 2 K)

• If you’re just looking at runs allowed, Ball turned in a nice start last night. However, on that stat line, the “one run allowed” isn’t the number that jumps out at you; those honors belong to the “six walks allowed.” Ball has struggled with control all season and those issues continued last night as he now is walking 4.1 per nine innings while punching out just 5.1 on the season. He’s shown progress in Salem but there’s still a long way to go.

Kyle Kraus (2.1 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 K)

Notable Position Players:

Mauricio Dubon (0-3, 2 BB, K)

Wendell Rijo (1-2, 2 BB, CS)

Jul 12, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; World infielder

grabs a ground ball against the U.S. Team during the All Star Futures Game at Great American Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Low-A Greenville Drive

Final Score: Asheville Tourists 6, Drive 4

Notable Pitchers:

Ben Taylor (4 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 4 K)

• Taylor was drafted as a reliever out of Southern Alabama in the seventh round this year. Still, the Red Sox have thrown him in the rotation (as they so often do) to start his minor league career and he did well enough to merit a promotion to Greenville. He’s really just a two-pitch pitcher so it will be interesting to see if he’s able to exceed expectations and develop as a starter or if he’ll return to the bullpen within the next few years.

Notable Position Players:

Michael Chavis (1-5, 2 K, SB)

Rafael Devers (2-5, HR, 2 K)

• Devers likely hasn’t been consistent enough to earn a promotion to High-A Salem before the end of the season. But with that being said, this season has been an unequivocal success for Devers. At 18 years old, he’s been well above average in Low-A, slashing .300/.328/.448 and is widely considered one of the top prospects, not just in the Red Sox organization, but in all of baseball.

Javier Guerra (2-4, BB)

Jun 13, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks outfielder

(16) hits a sacrifice RBI against the Virginia Cavaliers in the third inning in the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Short Season A Lowell Spinners

Final Score: Staten Island Yankees 3, Spinners 1

Notable Position Players:

Victor Acosta (0-4)

Luis Alexander Basabe (0-4, K)

Andrew Benintendi (1-2, 2 BB)

• Benintendi appears to have gotten back on track in the last couple of games, reaching base three times last night. He’s dragged his season line (all of 10 games) up to .235/.400/.382 and after another week or two of success, he could be moving on to Greenville.

Mitchell Gunsolus (0-2, K)

Austin Rei (0-2, BB, K)

Tucker Tubbs (1-2)

Jun 1, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; A general view of Fenway Park during the eighth inning of the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bays Rays. The Boston Red Sox won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Gulf Coast League Red Sox

Final Score: Red Sox 7, GCL Twins 2

Notable Pitchers:

Kevin Steen (4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, ER, 4 K)

Notable Position Players:

Yoan Aybar (2-4, 3B, K)

• Aybar has clearly established himself as the top prospect with the GCL Red Sox. Already a talented (but raw) outfield prospect, the 18-year old Aybar is hitting .303/.329/.403 and is flashing a bit of speed and power, hitting a triple last night. He has a high ceiling but he’s also far, far away from the majors and it could be the better part of a decade before we see him in Boston.

Devon Fisher (0-1)

Andrew Noviello (0-1, BB)

Jagger Rusconi (0-4)

Yomar Valentin (2-4, 3B, BB)

Kyri Washington (2-4, K)