On Sunday afternoon the Boston Red Sox officially wrapped up the first half of their 2023 season with a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics. That win capped a weekend sweep at Fenway Park, and has the Red Sox heading into the All-Star break with wins in eight of their last nine games.

That stretch leaves the Red Sox at 48-43 at the break - one game better than their record heading into the break last year. They sit in fifth place in the American League East, just a game back of the New York Yankees and two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

While their nine game deficit behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays leaves a division title a longshot at best, the Wild Card picture looks much more favorable - as long as they can continue with the momentum they built leading into the break. They sit two games out of a Wild Card spot, with the Blue Jays and Houston Astros currently tied for the second and third spots behind the Baltimore Orioles. Only the Yankees sit between the Red Sox and that Toronto and Houston tie.

That positioning in the standings - not quite in the mix officially but certainly not out of things - feels appropriate for what the Red Sox have been in the first half. They've been consistently inconsistent, with high highs matched by low lows. That's both the roster as a whole, and on a player-by-player basis for some key guys. Mounting injuries have bit the team at times as well.

Which players have kept the Red Sox in 'contention' through the first half? And who does the team need more from if they're going to make a serious push in the dog days of summer? Let's take a look with some mid-season awards...

Yoshida has looked like a hit for Bloom in his short time in the Majors. He leads all everyday players hitting .313, and is top three on the team with his nine home runs and 43 runs driven in. This all comes after a slow start in the month of April - since May 1 he's hitting .329. He's currently among the favorites to win AL Rookie of the Year.

Runner up: Justin Turner

For all of the misses Chaim Bloom has added to the Red Sox starting rotation the last few years (and we'll get to some of those in a bit), Paxton has been an example of a veteran signing gone right. In 10 starts he's 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA and a WHIP of just .0982. If the Red Sox do make a playoff push he'll be a big part of it, and if they don't he should hold some relatively significant value at the trade deadline. That's a win-win.

Runner up: Brayan Bello

While he looked lost at times during his first two stints in the Majors in 2021 and 2022, Duran has finally put it together at the plate this year. He's slashing an impressive .319/.365/.520 in 69 games, and his 27 doubles this year rank third in all of baseball (despite him having played as many as 20 less games than many of the other leaders). His fielding has still been suspect at times, but he's proven at the plate he deserves to be an everyday part of the Red Sox lineup.

Runner up: Connor Wong

Through no fault of his own, Hernandez was trusted to be the primary shortstop of the Red Sox for most of the first half of the season. Still, his performance fell way short of expectations as the former utility player ended up leading all of baseball in errors by the time the team went another direction at shortstop in mid-June. It'd be one thing if hit bat justified the defensive hit, but his .222 batting average and .606 OPS both rank dead last among the everyday players on the team. Looking at it from a number of different angles, he's been the worst position player on the Red Sox this year. 

Runner up: Triston Casas

There's just too much here to give the nod to any specific player. From Corey Kluber and Nick Pivetta performing at a level that couldn't even keep them in the rotation with relatively little competition elsewhere on the roster, to continued injury issues from Chris Sale and Garrett Whitlock, just about everything that seemingly could go wrong for the Red Sox starting pitching has this year. In total the team has already had to use 12 starting pitchers this year, one more than they did all of last season. As a unit, the starters have combined for a 4.67 ERA, which ranks 24th in baseball.

Looking ahead a little bit here as we wrap up. Story is expected to return to the team at some point in the second half of the season - first as a designated hitter and then to shortstop once his elbow is ready. We already discussed the shortstop issues this team has had, and the lineup has - at times - felt lacking on veteran approach. Viewed by many as the short-term replacement for Xander Bogaerts, can he step into those shoes? That'll be a big storyline down the stretch, especially if the Red Sox want to make noise as a playoff team.