Just for fun as we head into the weekend, eight surprises of the Red Sox season through 60 of 162 . . .

1. Nick Green's emergence as a viable stop-gap at shortstop. Don't you think It must have been fun for Green to play such a significant role in two of the Red Sox' three victories over the Yankees this week? He spent the entire 2008 season with the Yankees' Triple A club in Scranton and was released after the season, with Joe Girardi deciding that Cody Ransom was a better player. He's not, but you can understand why Girardi wasn't sold on Green -- mainly, that he's erratic defensively. But he's a pretty capable hitter -- as Eck noted last night, he can crush a fastball -- and he has an above-average arm, and those assets alone make him a useful utility infielder. And he gets bonus points for playing his best when the Sox needed him most, early in the season when they had no other options at short. He's clearly impressed Tito to the point that the manager has all but packed Julio Lugo's luggage for him, and his signing has proved to be one of more fortuitous acquisitions of the offseason. Hard not to root for a guy like that.

2. David Ortiz's disastrous start. It's been the subplot of the season so far, but you know what? I've already spent too many words this season writing about what was wrong with him. No one wants to rehash it again, especially with the corner about to be turned. He's looked like his old self lately, with three homers in the last five games and more hard hit balls this week than he had in the previous two months. So let's just enjoy what's going right. Big Papi isn't quite back, but it sure looks like he's on his way. And those, my friends, are words I enjoy writing.

3. Ramon Ramirez's dominance out of the 'pen. Well, except for Wednesday night, anyway, when he served up home runs to Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira and proved that he actually is human and not some unhittable android spawn of Mariano Rivera. (Too bad. I was getting hopeful.) But with Wednesday's hiccup aside, the 27-year-old former Royal has been nothing short of phenomenal, posting a 0.90 WHIP, 1.86 ERA, and limiting opponents to 17 hits in 29 innings over 28 appearances. And the praise for Ramirez extends to virtually all of his partners in the bullpen, which is the deepest and most versatile in baseball -- and perhaps in recent Red Sox history. Yes, Theo Epstein has figured out how to pull together a bullpen. Now if he could just come up with a shortstop worth keeping.

4. Daisuke Matsuzaka's maddening . . . well, everything. There's probably something to the belief that the World Baseball Classic took an unnecessary toll on Dice-K's arm when he should have been in Ft. Myers gradually preparing for the season. But I don't know . . . it just seems like there's something more going on here. He's had a stint on the DL and a successful rehab in the minors, and still, he's an enigmatic mess when he's on the mound. He's struck out 29 batters in 27 innings, which suggests his stuff is quality . . . yet his ERA is a Kevin Jarvis-like 7.33, his WHIP is 2.11, and he's allowed 44 hits and five home runs. I'm not convinced that Dice-K's spot in the rotation should be ceded to John Smoltz or Clay Buchholz, but a solution to whatever ails him needs to be discovered pretty soon.