It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

We tend (believe it or not) to accept overachievement as the norm and underachievement as the exception. In reality, player and team performance regularly varies, sometimes dramatically. Even within a season, you have periods where players struggle (e.g. Dustin Pedroia), then catch fire. It all evens out...not really.

So as we prepare for the second half, including the trade deadline, what observations can we make?

Who's Hot, or Overachievers?

• Jacoby Ellsbury
• David Ortiz
• Daniel Bard
• Josh Beckett
• Josh Reddick
• Matt Albers
• Adrian Gonzalez
• Catching platoon
• Tim Wakefield
• Andrew Miller
• Alfredo Aceves

Goldilocks performance, about right?

• Jon Lester
• Jonathan Papelbon
• Clay Buchholz (pre-injury)
• Dustin Pedroia
• Kevin Youkilis
• Jed Lowrie (averaged, including injury)

Who's Cold, or less than expected?

• J.D. Drew
• Carl Crawford
• John Lackey
• Marco Scutaro
• Darnell McDonald

MVP: Adrian Gonzalez

Comeback player: Jacoby Ellsbury

Who might matter the most in the second half? Clay Buchholz