Most certainly it’s still April, but you have to like the way the Boston Red Sox are playing baseball right now. They’ve now won ten straight, including a memorable 9-game homestand where a weekend sweep of the evil Bronx Bombers followed similar efforts against the Orioles and the Twins.

The good? There’s a lot to be said for the good guys.

1. Offensively they’re winning desite the fact that DH David Ortiz (who may never hit another home run ever again) and reigning MVP Dustin Pedroia (The Great White Shank’s favorite BoSox) have yet to start hitting. The bad? How do we know that Ortiz will ever hit for power this year. And I’m not convinced that third baseman Mike Lowell - currently the American League’s RBI leader - will be able to stay healthy enough to withstand the rigors of a full baseball season. If he can’t, the Sox are in trouble.

2. Defensively the team seems pretty rock-solid. Lowell has lost a little mobility on balls hit low and to his left, but otherwise the infield and outfield defense has been outstanding. It will be interesting to see how shortstop Julio Lugo fares in his return from injury: his defense has always given me the heebie-jeebies, but I’m willing to give him a chance - especially since this team needs all the offensive help it can get.

3. I love this team’s pitching. The starting rotation - even with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the DL - remains one of the best in baseball, and the bullpen has, by and large, been pretty rock solid. Keep in mind that with this year’s edition of the Red Sox you have to consider three critical aspects: the major league team, the Pawtucket AAA farm team, and what’s going down in extended spring training in Florida. The depth of this year’s team has already shown its potential in the Yankees series just completed - any time you can bring up from AAA the likes of a Hunter Jones or Michael Bowden while leaving behind the likes of Clay Buchholz and Daniel Bard behind, that’s evidence of the depth this team has. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that future Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz, currently rehabbing in Florida, will be joining the team on or around June 1.

The bad: David Ortiz and Mike Lowell’s durability.

Bottom line: this is a team that is slowly and gradually coming together to build a new identity, one that needed to be carved out following Manny Ramirez’s stormy tenure and departure. And this new identity has everything to do preparing the team for the post-season. The Red Sox front office has done a good job making sure that if there are any holes that need to be filled come July 31 the team has plenty of strength to trade from and financial wiggle-room to work with.

Now comes a brutal 9-game road trip against the Indians, the Rays, and the Yankees. Methinks we’ll have a better idea as to where the Sox truly are by the time they return home on May 7.