Even though the 2012 Red Sox are still under .500 at 23-24, going 3-3 on the week against the two teams that are tied for 1st place in the American League East (the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles) is no small feat. It provides proof that we can compete with those top teams in our division. 

Somehow, someway, our unnecessarily outspoken manager Bobby V has kept this volatile team together – but things could fall apart at any time. 

His inexplicable daringness scares some of our fans, but I’m truly starting to believe that maybe we can work this out. There’s a lot of adversity that must be overcome with this team, but on a positive note Dice-K is apparently making a strong comeback in AAA Pawtucket – maybe he still has that $100 million dollar gyro-ball (although it’s probably still a myth). 

Here are this week’s player awards, and boy o’ boy things have really taken a 180º turn since the start of the season as far as individual player performances go. 

Best Hitter: Will Middlebrooks is a studmuffin, and even though Youk seems to be back in good form after doing some rehabbing, this guy is definitely worth keeping. I hope he doesn’t turn into trade bait.

Best Pitcher: Mr. Chicken & Beer AKA Josh Beckett has really stepped his game up after tons of people – including me – were calling him out. He’s been very consistent during his last few appearances on the mound. 

Biggest Surprise: My boy Scott Podsednik – the former stolen base champion extraordinaire who’s making his major league comeback with the Sox after spending two years in the Minors. FYI: He’s the sixth center fielder our team has used this year… 

Biggest Disappointment: Our future HOF designated hitter Big Papi David Ortiz watched his average dip from .333 to .305 this week against our AL East-leading rivals. Come on Papi – keep focused bro. 

Unsung Hero: Jarrod Saltalamacchia simply because he saved our team from looking like a bunch of jerks after giving Josh Beckett no run support by hitting a walk-off homer against Rays’ closer Fernando Rodney – who’s been dominant this year. 

Bum Of The Week: Hmm… This is a tie between Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester – our two starters who have formerly thrown no hitters with us are sucking wind right now. They’re both getting lit up every time they take the mound – Lester gave up 7 runs in 4 innings against the Rays… 

Injuries: Losing Cody Ross is a pretty huge blow to this team – but apparently he’s said to be ready in less than 6-8 weeks, shorter than expected. They say that we’re looking at getting Jacoby Ellsbury back sometime in early July, so if we can stay around .500 until then that would be a big boost for our lineup. 

Coming Up: The first of four at home against the supposed-to-be-dominant Detroit Tigers starts today at 1:35PM - then we got three at Toronto against the surprising Jays. This would be a GREAT week to go at least 4-3 – or maybe even 5-2 or 6-1 – to get our record at or over .500.