Sunday Discussion: Respectability

The Red Sox are at .500 for the first time since the season opened. On the one hand, it's unfortunate that we're all happy to have a team that's now precisely adequate. On the other, given how low the team had sunk last Saturday, .500 feels like a serious achievement. So let's take a look at how they got there, and what still needs to be figured out.

The first thing that stands out about this week, and it definitely needs to be addressed, is the quality of competition. A big part of the Sox' early struggles was that they came against Detroit, Texas, and New York, three teams that don't allow you to play sloppy. Minnesota and Chicago are much easier marks, and Boston should be able to win six in a row against them. That they did so is great, but of course we can't conclude they're now an unstoppable juggernaut.

Doesn't mean it hasn't been fun to watch our boys finally playing like they should. They've won big, they've won ugly, they've won lucky. The starters are looking better and the bullpen seems to be falling into place.
So what have you taken away from this week? What's been good, what's still worrying you? Who's impressed you most? And most importantly, is this the start of a good run? Chat away.