For those Boston Red Sox fans who did not get their fill of Superman while watching the All-Star game on Tuesday, well, here comes Mike Trout again.

The Red Sox (42-47) will be in Anaheim on Friday night to begin a four-game series against Trout and the Angels, who are 11-3 in their last 14 games, with seven of those 11 victories coming on the road.

From Anaheim, the Red Sox will go to Houston for three games. On such a challenging seven-game trip versus the top two teams in the A.L. West, the last-in-the- East Red Sox hope to get rolling on that second-half surge a few sunshiny Boston fans kind of/sort of think manager John Farrell’s team still has in it.

Only a few weeks ago it seemed as if firing Farrell would not be such a drastic idea. But, Farrell has held this mess together and steadied it somewhat. Dreadful no more, the mishmash of Mookie and Xander and who cares assembled by general manager Ben Cherington at great financial cost has demonstrated big-league competence in recent weeks.

But, one giant obstacle remains to a second-half magic show: Boston’s starting pitching as presently constituted. Piecing together a winning streak to make up 6 1/2 games on the first-place Yankees while hopping over three other teams in the East, or to make up six games in the wild-card race while hopping over seven teams, seems an unlikely feat with a starting staff that has averaged fewer than six innings per outing while ranking 28th in the majors in ERA (4.75) and 25th in WHIP (1.36).

Rick Porcello (5-9, 5.90) really needs to get his act together. Especially since Boston’s most effective starter, Clay Buchholz (7-7, 3.26), went on the disabled last Saturday with a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow. Buchholz, whose absence is expected to be lengthy, was 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA over his last seven starts.

But, before groaning away all hope, consider this day and age when postseason pushes often involve an emerging arm or two up from the farm. The lift provided by 22-year-old left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez in nine starts since being called up from Pawtucket in late May (5-2, 3.59) makes one wonder if perhaps valued prospects Brian Johnson and Henry Owens (if Owens can get his control sorted out) can similarly bolster the staff. Johnson was called up last Saturday to replace Buchholz.

So just as the exciting development of Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts has breathed life into Boston’s everyday lineup, kids may yet have a considerable say on the mound as to where this Red Sox season is headed.

There will be much talk leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline about whether the Red Sox should be buyers in pursuit of the playoffs or sellers looking already toward 2016 and beyond. Other than kids they should not be selling, the Red Sox don’t look to have anything other teams would want to buy as part of a blockbuster. The Cincinnati Reds probably will not take Mike Napoli and Porcello for Johnny Cueto. Same likely goes for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cole Hamels.

Boston’s everyday lineup is playoff-worthy. Boston is 12th in the majors in runs scored and climbing (tied for sixth this month). And, returning to the lineup Friday will be second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia seemed to be Boston’s best player before suffering a strained right hamstring on June 24.

The Red Sox were 32-41 when Pedroia went on the DL and 10-6 without him.