Kuzul

The 2013 Boston Red Sox have risen to the top of the AL East not because of superlative superstar performances, but rather due to the contributions of many.

They have taken a step back from their stars-first approach and have instead looked to piece together a team filled with capable veterans and young players determined to make an impact.

The results, thus far, have been beyond what most experts could have expected.

As in previous years, though, the Sox have had injuries serve as the greatest impediment to their success.

Key players like Clay Buchholz, Shane Victorino and Andrew Bailey have already spent significant time on the DL, and have also proven to be susceptible to reinjury once they do make it back.

Fortunately, the Sox also have a well-stocked farm system that has talent at multiple positions.

The organization has placed a lot of emphasis this season on getting these younger players experience at the MLB level even when tradition dictates they might not be 100 percent ready.

Here are five of these prospects that Sox fans may see in the second half of the season:

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Their debatable sellout streak may be over, but the 2013 Red Sox have quickly become the talk of Boston after their incredible start to the season.

At 18-7, the Sox are off to their best start since they opened the 2004 season at 18-7. We all know how that year turned out—with World Series rings in Boston.

This year’s team owes its success not to a host of mashing offensive talent, but rather to its starting pitching. Red Sox starters boast a 15-4 record and 3.07 ERA. Take out the putrid numbers of Alfredo Aceves’ three starts and the starting staff’s numbers look even better (14-4, 2.59 ERA).

Yes, it is safe to say the stink of the Bobby Valentine era has been washed away by this tremendous April.

However, that is not to say that everything is perfect. Several players on the Red Sox roster have not fared as well so far and will be looking to bounce back over the rest of the season.

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the Red Sox’s hot start.

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The Boston Red Sox have begun to fill out their roster for the 2013 season and beyond. This has taken place amid pledges by GM Ben Cherington that the team will be spending freely this offseason, contrary to the commonly held belief that the Sox would be acting conservatively in the wake of last August’s payroll purge.

The team has quite a number of needs going into the offseason, with pitching chief among them. The Sox have a bad history with free agent signings in the pitching department, with many of the biggest busts in franchise history coming from acquiring these would-be aces.

This is not to sell them short on other areas where they have come up woefully short. Theo Epstein, in particular, made a habit of bringing in players who simply did not produce in a Sox uniform.

He certainly is not the only one guilty of handing out terrible contracts, though. Here’s a look at the 10 worst contracts the Sox have committed to:

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After being shellacked in his May 21 start at Baltimore, Clay Buchholz looked like a pitcher better suited for the International League than the American League.

Now, after a string of excellent performances, he looks much more like the pitcher who was an All-Star and finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting in 2010. His improvement has also launched the Sox right back into contention.

The right-hander has been on an excellent run of late, rattling off consecutive impressive starts against the Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles, three of the better offensive teams in the American League.

Buchholz has allowed just four earned runs in his last 24.0 innings (an ERA of 1.50), lowering his overall ERA from 7.84 to 5.77. After struggling with his control all season, he has walked just four while striking out 19 over the same period.

Buchholz’s reversal of fortune has come at a pivotal moment for the Sox. With the demotion of Daniel Bard and the inconsistency of Jon Lester, the Sox desperately needed Buchholz to rediscover his form and provide stability for the rotation.

If his recent performance is any indication, he has done just that.

Despite their improved play, the Sox still rank 27th in MLB in ERA (4.47), 28th in runs allowed (278) and 24th in WHIP (1.37). Buchholz has been a huge contributor to these poor numbers, as he ranked last or near last among qualifiers in several categories before his recent hot streak.

There’s no question that Buchholz is a good pitcher, certainly a better one than his early performance indicated. However, his career has been a bit confusing; is he the pitcher of 2010 who stayed healthy and dominated the competition, or is he the erratic, enigmatic pitcher of 2008 and 2009?

Buchholz will turn 28 in August, so his “development” has effectively ended. The time has come for him to show what kind of pitcher he is.

This latest run of success is a great sign for the Sox and their fans. For a pitcher, especially, the recovery from back problems can be a painfully difficult and slow process. It’s fair to wonder if Buchholz’s early season struggles primarily stemmed from his ongoing recuperation from last year’s season-ending back injury, rather than some sort of deep-seated mechanical flaw.

Now that Buchholz is about a year removed from his injury, he’s begun to resemble the pitcher fans remember. He got off to a strong start in 2011 before his injury, so his track record of strong performances does not come solely from one season.

The transformation of the Sox rotation from a weakness to a strength really begins with Buchholz. Josh Beckett and Felix Doubront have been steady performers all season, and though he’s struggled at times Lester’s effort has been at least passable.

Buchholz, though, has been the wild card. Although his record currently stands at 6-2, those numbers belie the absolutely brutal performances he put forth early in the season. He allowed five or more earned runs in each of his first six starts and seven of his first nine.

His turnaround, then, can swing the balance of power in the tightly-contested division race.

With every team at .500 or better and just four games separating the first and last place teams, every hot or cold streak is going to matter in the 2012 AL East. Buchholz’ ability to shut down opposing offenses, especially those within the division, will make a huge impact on the Sox’s chances.

Even an average performance from Buchholz the rest of the way will give the Sox an extra couple wins, and in a race this tight that will likely make all the difference.

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The last man to win baseball’s Triple Crown did it in a Red Sox Uniform. This year, it will happen again.

When Carl Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown in 1967, he did it with a .326 batting average, 44 home runs and 121 RBI. These numbers are certainly impressive, but as anyone who has seen him play can tell you, a healthy Adrian Gonzalez can easily reach this same milestone.

Indeed, despite a multitude of issues last season, Gonzalez was a monster for the Sox. He finished with a .338-27-117 stat line, with the bulk of his damage coming in the first half of the season. Indeed, at the All-Star break, Gonzalez was on pace to put up a .354-30-138, which would have put him at the top of two of the three Triple Crown categories at season’s end.

Gonzalez’s noticeable power drop-off from previous seasons has been linked to lingering shoulder problems associated with surgery he had prior to the 2011 season, though, to his credit, he never let that become an excuse.

It’s also true that when looking at advanced metrics, it becomes clear that part of the reason for Gonzalez’s swollen batting average was a high degree of luck. His batting average on balls on play (BABIP) was a ridiculous .386; for comparison, in the 2008-10 seasons, his BABIP was .304.

Though he may not reach such a high batting average again this year, it is perfectly reasonable to expect a .320-plus average from Gonzalez, who for a host of reasons will have a second year in Boston much easier than his first. He already had an excellent spring, hitting .356 with a solid .901 OPS and showing no ill effects from the collapse of last season.

There is no doubt that 2012 is shaping up to be a huge year for the Sox’s first baseman, whose ability to consistently hit for both power and average makes him arguably the most valuable asset in the Sox’s lineup.

Here are five reasons why Gonzalez will win the AL Triple Crown this season:

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Here we go again.

That is what Red Sox fans have to be saying to themselves after the Boston Globe reported this morning that a “wedge” is already developing between general manger Ben Cherington and manager Bobby Valentine.

Admittedly, this is not a good look for the Red Sox right now. After the discord that enveloped the organization during the fall of 2011, fans had hoped that the new faces brought in to lead the franchise would bury the past and move forward.

Then the reports began to emerge that Cherington didn’t even want Valentine in the first place; he preferred Dale Sveum, the former Brewers manager and Sox third base coach, who was instead tabbed by former GM Theo Epstein to manage the Chicago Cubs. Valentine, it seemed, was the type of big name the owners (led by Larry Lucchino) preferred to lead the team. Since they sign the checks, the owners got their way.

Now it seems the philosophical differences between Cherington and Valentine are coming to the forefront. The Globe article cites two key disagreements as the focal points of this dysfunction: Valentine’s desire to make Jose Iglesias the starting shortstop vs. Cherington’s feeling that Iglesias needs more seasoning at Triple-A, and Valentine’s desire to put Daniel Bard back in the bullpen vs. Cherington’s feeling that Bard will succeed as a starter.

What I fail to see about this whole difference of opinion is why it is such a big deal.

Yes, one would prefer to see the manager and GM on the same page at all times with regard to player development, but that is simply never the case in professional sports, particularly baseball. The manager’s day-to-day, one-on-one involvement with the players creates a different relationship with the team than the one the GM has. Both perspectives are equally important, as together the manager and GM shape the present and future of the team, but their different experiences are naturally going to beget different visions of how the team should be shaped.

Valentine has been known to clash with GMs before, having had a very difficult relationship with Steve Phillips when he was with the New York Mets. The Red Sox knew all this when they hired him.

Both the best and worst part of the Bobby Valentine experience is that he loves to talk. He will say pretty much anything if you put a microphone in his face. Sometimes, this is a good thing; his ability to be a lightning rod and to occupy the media diverts negative attention away from his players and allows them to just go out and play baseball. In a market like Boston, that ability to distract is a huge asset.

On the other hand, sometimes the things he says can run contrary to what others in the organization want or believe. While this differing viewpoint is obviously not preferred, it is going to happen in any organization no matter what business it is. Not everyone is going to agree.

Ultimately, with regard to many of the personnel decisions, Cherington is going to have most of the say. He is the decider. If he wants to demote Iglesias, it is his prerogative to do so and Valentine can’t do anything about it.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact, though, that these men are both professionals. They don’t have to like each other, but they both know that keeping their jobs relies solely on their ability to work together. It may not be the marriage they wanted, but it is the one they have.

Fans should have some faith that Cherington and Valentine will make the relationship work. It is still in its infancy, after all.

There may be bumps along the way like this one, but both men have the same goal: to bring the Red Sox a championship in 2012. As long as that remains a constant, they will learn to play nice and find some middle ground.

And if that doesn’t work, there’s always couples therapy.

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