Want a reason to believe this Boston Red Sox might be a little better we all thought, says Bill Burt. This guy, rookie Brayan Bello, only 24, has been a nice surprise this season, shown here beating the Yankees last weekend.

Yo, Boston Red Sox fans.

Stop the madness. Take a chill pill.

A week ago, there was talk about last place and a potentially new president of Baseball Ops. Today, October baseball is in our minds.

Whatever.

Your Boston Red Sox are what we — including you … be honest — thought they were back in March.

A decent team. A good team. A bad team. A resilient team. A last place team. and everything in between.

Yup. All of them.

And here we are, a half-dozen games away from the official half-way point, and they all of the aforementioned adjectives.

The fluctuations, I’m afraid to say, will undoubtedly continue with injuries, and moving parts on both the pitching staff and the eight other players on the field.

Let’s be honest, we knew losing Xander Bogaerts was going to be a loss of leadership.

That loss is going to take time to overcome and find a replacement, which hasn’t even remotely happened just yet.

We knew Chris Sale was probably going to get hurt, maybe not knowing he’d be his semi-dominant self for nearly a month.

We knew there’d be a lot of newbies in positions they’ve never been before — particularly Kike Hernandez as everyday shortstop, Christian Arroyo as everyday second basemen and Triston Casas as an everyday first baseman. and all of them struggled in their new, increased roles, with Casas making recent headway.

We knew the addition of starting pitcher/ex-Cy Young Award winn Corey Kluber was a 40-60 (pro-con) proposition/flyer at best after being given $8 million. and it’s now doomed as a probable “failure” very soon.

The signings of Japanese star Masataka Yoshida (.308, 8 HR, 38 RBI) and closer Kenley Jansen (15 saves in 18 opportunities) have met expectations, as both are key members of this 2023 group.

Last but not least is Justin Turner, who is the guy you want in your foxhole when the Red Sox need a jolt. He’s hovering around .280 and seems to be involved in everything that is good when this offense is trending up.

As for the pitching, primarily the starting pitching, Bryan Bello (allowed 1 or 2 runs in 8 of 11 starts) looks like a potential future ace, having not had a “bad” start since his first on April 17.

Tanner Houck (injured after taking line drive off his face) and Garrett Whitlock are turning into the good-to-very-good pitchers we thought they’d be.

And James Paxton (3-1, 3.29 ERA, 51Ks, 38.2 IP), another veteran flyer recovering from Tommy John surgery, is looking like the Yankees guy from 2019 — 15-6, 3.82 ERA, 186Ks, 150.2 innings. If there is an ace, a guy you trust, it’s him.

We could’ve had most of these same assessments a week ago, but the Sox had issues catching and throwing the ball, and couldn’t get in an offensive groove.

There will be opportunities over the next five weeks-plus to add to this Wild Card-chasing unit. After Chaim Bloom’s quiet approach at the trade deadline, expect a splash or two.

Which give fans a reason to be positive.

As long as expectations — Wild Card or bust — remain realistic, I wouldn’t sell this year’s final result short.

But then again, it is June 22, 2023. The Red Sox are where they belong, looking up at four good-to-very good teams in the American League, chasing a Wild Card. There is a lot of time for that to change, for better or worse.

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.