Just one Red Sox minor league affiliate played on Tuesday, with three levels set to open their postseason series on Wednesday:
DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE RED SOX: 8-1 LOSS (COMPLETION OF SUSPENDED GAME), 2-1 LOSS AT DSL RANGERS (TRAIL BEST-OF-FIVE SERIES, 2-1)
(BOX GAME 1, BOX GAME 2)
— Outfielder Yoan Aybar followed a 1-for-3 performance in the first contest with a 2-for-4 performance in the second game. In six postseason games, the 17-year-old is hitting .348/.375/.522 with two doubles and a triple, and he carries a five-game hitting streak into Wednesday’s elimination game. Rafael Devers was rightly viewed as the standout prospect at the Sox’ DSL affiliate this year, based on the present tools that separated him dramatically from his peers and permitted him to dominate both in the Dominican and then the Gulf Coast League. But Aybar, who like Devers signed with the Sox in the summer of 2013, showed the sort of tools that permit visions of considerable upside, with the athleticism and enough tools to suggest five-tool potential years down the line. It will probably be another three or four years or so before it becomes clear whether those tools will translate into performance in the upper minors, but the 6-foot-2, 165-pound left-handed-hitting outfielder has a chance to turn heads as he develops.
— Right-hander Daniel Gonzalez allowed one unearned run in 5 1/3 innings, with the 6-foot-5 18-year-old working around six hits and three walks while striking out two. He now has a streak of six straight starts without permitting an earned run, an expanse of 31 1/3 innings. Between the regular season and postseason, Gonzalez is 10-0 with a 1.94 ERA.
— Second baseman Luis Alejandro Basabe (who is not to be confused with twin brother Luis Alexander Basabe, who was an outfielder in the DSL and GCL this year) went 3-for-8 with a double, triple and walk in the two contests. Basabe has an uncharacteristic streak of three straight games in which he’s produced extra-base hits, having collected two doubles and a triple in his most recent three contests — in the process nearly matching the four extra-base hits he had in 30 games in the regular season, when he hit .222/.403/.273. A startling 40 percent of his plate appearances ended without contact (either in a walk or strikeout), underscoring that there’s some work to be done with the approach of Basabe, who just turned 18 last week.
