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Fan confidence back up heading into second half

Also, who is the top SP on the market?

By Matt_Collins

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2019 MLB All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in fans from each team. Red Sox fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.

Confidence trending back up heading into second half

Confidence certainly isn’t high among Red Sox fans right now, at least relative to the league. Every team has these polls from their SBN affiliate, and at the symbolic halfway point of the season only five teams (Cubs, Mets, Phillies, Pirates and Cardinals) have a lower rate of confidence among their fanbase. For those with keen eyes at home, you’ll notice all of those teams are in the National League. So, you know, Red Sox fans have less confidence in the direction their team than any other in the American League with just 43 percent voting yes. That is still a fairly substantial increase since last week, though, when they got just 27 percent yes votes. That vote was coming off the disaster in London, while this came immediately after the team swept the Tigers and took five of six in the week.

As for the manager, fans are still confident in him. Confidence in Alex Cora did fall to 58 percent after the London Series, but it’s back up to 71 percent now. That is the range in which he found himself prior to the London Series, too.

Which Starting Pitcher is Most Valuable?

The Red Sox are one of many teams that will be looking for rotation help this summer. In fact, pretty much every contender except maybe the Astros will be out of the starting pitching market. With that in mind, here is a national perspective on which starter is worth the most on a trade. Trevor Bauer being number one is not really surprising. He’s clearly the best pitcher on the market, with his personality being the biggest turnoff. I would have Boydd after that, though. The Tigers lefty has had an incredible year with a lot of underlying factors backing up his performance. He is also under control through 2022. All of the pitchers listed here have some intrigue, but my order of interest would be: Bauer, Boyd, Stroman, Wheeler, Bumgarner.

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