The Sox own the league's third-best record heading into the holiday weekend with a 47-32 clip — a pretty impressive number considering the amount of injuries manager Terry Francona's crew has been dealing with.
Despite the gaps in the lineup and rotation, the local nine continue to push on and sit just 1 1/2 games behind the AL East leading Yankees. Imagine that just five weeks ago, when the team was 8 1/2 games out of first place, jockeying with the Blue Jays for relevance.
It may be difficult to rate the club at this point — perhaps an "incomplete" would be suffice — but how would you grade the Sox this year?
Overall, this club deserves high honors for its ability to produce wins despite their lack of consistency. The projected starting lineup heading into the campaign spent just a few short days in the beginning of the year together before the wheels began to fell off and the clubhouse looked more like an infirmary.
Pitching and defense was supposed to carry this team to the playoffs, and although Jon Lester (9-3, 2.86 ERA), Clay Buchholz (10-4, 2.45 ERA) and John Lackey (9-3, 4.46 ERA) have kept the rotation clicking, the bullpen has been unpredictable.
The offense ranks first in runs (435), second in homers (105), and third in batting average (.277), but without the services of Jacoby Ellsbury — who had 37 swipes through Boston's first 79 games in 2009 — the Sox are second to last in steals with 26.
As for a non-traditional subject, how can you not give the club's player development a top grade with their ability to promote the right super-subs the Sox have needed in Daniel Nava, Darnell McDonald, and even Felix Doubront?
What grade would you give the Red Sox so far this year?
Share your thoughts below. The best comments will be read on NESN’s Red Sox GameDay Live or Red Sox Final.
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