Particularly against the backdrop of the Celtics and Bruins embarking on what both expect will be long playoff runs, the bar remains high for Boston's pro teams.
No matter the franchise, the expectations are considerable. If it's not "championship or bust,'' then it's pretty darn close. Nobody does -- or should -- aspire to mediocrity.
Still, the fact that the Red Sox are 10-10 after their first 20 games is noteworthy. It's a given that Chaim Bloom, Alex Cora and ownership are not taking any bows for hanging around .500 following the first three weeks of the season. At the very least, the hope is that the team remains in contention for the playoffs deep into the season.
Again, no one is cueing the duck boats just because the Red Sox have won as many as they've lost to date.
And yet....
A closer look at the roster suggests that the Sox' record, while falling short of praiseworthy, is not an insignificant achievement.
Already, the team lost its second-best power source, Adam Duvall for several months. Primary set-up man Chris Martin, a key element of the bullpen rebuild, is out with shoulder inflammation. Zack Kelly, an early-season innings eater in the bullpen, will soon undergo elbow surgery and could be lost for the season.
In the starting rotation, the Sox began the year without three projected contributors. Garrett Whitlock has returned for two starts and Brayan Bello one. James Paxton is still two rehab starts away.
Then there's the performance of the regulars. Three-quarters of the starting infield -- first baseman Triston Casas, Christian Arroyo and Kiké Hernandez -- are in massive slumps, with Hernandez also ignominiously leading the league in errors. In the outfield, Masataka Yoshida, after an encouraging start, looks very much like The Accidental Tourist, a stranger in a strange land. Everything about the game -- the size of the ball, the schedule, the travel, the facilities -- is different for Yoshida, and it shows.
There have been multiple nights in which the lineup card filled out by Cora features as many as five position players under the famed ''Mendoza Line'' -- that is, below .200.
Wednesday's starter, Corey Kluber, had completed the fifth inning twice, but has an ERA that doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Earlier this week, catcher Reese McGuire finally threw out a would-be base-stealer, ending a run of 15 straight successful swipes. (To be fair, these were at least as much the fault of the pitchers, who seemed oddly disinterested in keeping runners close).
Add it all up, and .500 -- give or take -- isn't such a bad position to be in.
"There's days I feel like we should be (way over .500) and there's days I feel we should be (way under it),'' said Cora recently. "So being right in the middle, I guess, makes sense, right?''
Since the start, the Red Sox have been up-and-down, predictably unpredictable, as perhaps befits a .500 mark. They took two-of-three from Baltimore, got swept by Pittsburgh, then swept Detroit before getting rolled by the Rays four straight.
On the just-completed homestand, they finished 5-2 against two decent opponents -- the Angels and Twins.
"I think overall, we've been OK,'' said Cora. "I don't want to say we've played great baseball. There's a few things that we've got to do better, But we're improving. The running game, we've been able to slow down people. We've been able to run a little bit more. Offensively, it's not the same team as a week ago.''
One baseball executive labeled the Red Sox "plucky'' for their penchant for coming from behind, as they famously did Tuesday against the Twins. The high-leverage relievers have done their jobs late in games -- the Sox are a perfect 7-0 when leading after six innings, meaning they're not handing games away.
''We've got to keep grinding,'' said Cora. "It's going to get tougher. I do believe the league is pretty tough for everyone. It's pretty balanced. We've just to keep playing good baseball and win series.''
The Rays at 16-3 are threatening to run off and hide, but the Sox are within two games of either other team in the division. And thanks to the more balanced schedule, where teams compete across divisions for the same wild card spots, the Sox are keeping pace with the most of the rest of the league.
Again, no parades for being break even, no awards given for being perfectly mediocre.
But for a team that looked completely outclassed a week ago, things have stabilized a good deal in the last week.
It's doubtful the Red Sox' marketing department is going to adapt 'It Could Be Worse!'' as a ticket-selling slogan, but there's some truth to such an assertion.