Poll: Have Sox earned your attention with solid start to season?

You'd be forgiven if you've been caught up in postseason fever with the Bruins and Celtics to pay too much attention to the Boston Red Sox through 36 games of the season.

Afterall, this was a team expected to hover around .500 and finish at the bottom of the American League East. Well, as it turns out, they are down near the bottom of the division, in fourth place to be exact, but that's only because the AL East is shaping up to be one of the toughest divisions the game has ever seen.

Fresh off an MLB-best 8-game win-streak, Boston sits at 21-15 this year, but is 16-7 in their last 23 games. If you haven't caught much, you're missing a pretty damn entertaining bunch. It's one of the best offenses in baseball with the 3rd-most runs scored. It's also one of the worst pitching staffs in the game, which has allowed the 5th-most runs in MLB. That means that most nights it's an action packed game.

Masataka Yoshida is the hottest hitter on the planet with his 16-game hit-streak. Rafael Devers leads the AL in homers and is 2nd in the majors in RBI. Chris Sale is showing signs of trending toward a top-of-the-rotation arm once again, and the bullpen can actually hold leads this year (Sox are 16-0 when leading after 6 innings).

I know, it's still very early. We haven't even reached the quarter pole of the MLB calendar. But the scrappy Sox look like a team that could have the makings of being in actual contention for a Wild Card spot deep into the summer and fall months, rather than just contending to have as many wins as losses.

Does the better-than-expected start have you more invested in Red Sox baseball than you anticipated being after six weeks of the season?