Red Sox minor lines: Wherein Luis Alexander Basabe transcends baseball

Pawtucket L 0-2

Allen Craig: 0-3, K
Travis Shaw: 0-4, E
Garin Cecchini: 1-3, BB
Deven Marrero: 1-3, BB, K
Marco Hernandez: 1-4, K

Henry Owens: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Pat Light: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Whereas the Red Sox continue to start their collection of broken starters, Henry Owens appears for all the world well-and-truly fixed and ready to finally try his hand at the major league level. It can't come soon enough.

Portland L 2-4

Manuel Margot: 0-5, K
Carlos Asuaje: 1-5, 2 K
Sam Travis: 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 K

Williams Jerez: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 K

I feel like we're reaching the point where Sam Travis is no longer just having a good season. He's kind of in full-on breakout mode. He was overshadowed by Margot some, particularly as the outfielder moved up the prospect rankings. And there's reason for that, certainly! Margot is a different kind of athlete, and more than a full year younger than Travis. But Margot is officially struggling with the biggest pre-majors jump in baseball, and if his age excuses that, frankly so would Travis'. But he's not struggling at all. He's just hitting away, reaching base at almost the same clip he managed in Salem. If there's power to come, all the better. But even if not, Travis is providing very real hope for an in-house long-term answer at first.

Salem L 0-4

Wendell Rijo: 1-4

Ty Buttrey: 3 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

Salem L 2-8

Wendell Rijo: 1-3

Teddy Stankiewicz: 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Lowell W 10-7

Luis Alexander Basabe: 0-0, 5 BB, SB
Andrew Benintendi: 1-5, 2B, K
Tate Matheny: 2-4, BB
Tucker Tubbs: 2-4, 2B
Josh Ockimey: 1-1
Mitchell Gunsolus: 1-4, BB, 2 K

Luis Alexander Basabe has moved to a different level. He has left behind the uncivilized ways of hitting. Such barbarism is for those who cannot find more enlightened ways on base.

In all seriousness, though, he does seem to have risen above this level. Late-season promotions to Greenville aren't the most common thing in the world, but he's making a very good case for it. It will be extremely interesting to see where he starts popping up in organizational rankings over the offseason, because he's pretty much made himself impossible to ignore at this point.

He does come with an asterisk, though. At some point pitchers will learn to throw strikes. He's done a good job of punishing them for that this year, but his strikeout rate has always been on the high side, and his power has only just shown up. There are holes to be filled, but at 18 years old, he's got time to fill 'em.

GCL Red Sox W 3-1 (In 7)

Yoan Aybar: 2-2, 2B