Why Jon Lester is A-Mazing!
Oct 11th 08
I’m going to call it right now: AL Cy Young 2009!
Barring that no other pitcher wins 23 games with a 2.30 ERA ( That goes for you Cliff Lee! ).
His growth over the last six weeks has been mystifying. Many people are in awe of how well he has done, but I don’t believe there are many people who notice how much he is coming into his own as a pitcher. His style, his mechanics, his stuff, and his poise, all have risen dramatically during this Red Sox run, and I just had to rant about what I am seeing before my innocent brown eyes.
His Location: I can remember last season where it was very damning on my patience to watch this kid throw. He never got the inside location down, would constantly throw the curve as his out pitch, and kept so many pitches either around the plate or way off of it that he accumulated so many walks. On top of that, because Lester’s stuff was so good, hitters would just protect and constantly foul off his pitches, wearing down his arm. He relied too much on his “out” pitch ( which was an above-average curve ), instead of going after hitters and forcing the ball to be put in play.
Lester’s location NOW is completely off the charts. He spots his fastball well, he throws enough strikes to force hitters to protect and jam-up on his cut, he uses his cutter to backdoor on righties, jam righties, and put the ball in play, and he rarely ( and I mean Rarely ) misses Varitek’s target.
In the at-bat against Mark Texeira in game four late in the game, his location not only made him unhittable against the most sought-after hitter in the American League, but Lester made Texeira’s entire at-bat futile. It culminated to when the umpire didn’t give him the strike three call on a pitch barely off the outside edge. The fans were irate, Lester skipped in dismay off the mound, simultaneously in excitement of the expectation of a call, and exasperation that his strike-zone against the All-Star hitter was shrunken.
Didn’t matter, for he threw a cut-fastball that snipped just an inch closer than the last pitch, and Texeira goes down in shock. In shock because it seemed outside, and maybe moreso because he was helpless against a pitcher who was at his peak for nearly the entire game.
His Cut-Fastball: A lot of pitchers are becoming more dangerous as they utilize the cut-fastball to its full potential: to jam the hitter, keep the ball from going deep, keep the hitter from moving over the plate.
Lester has not only used his cut to deplete the right-handers ability to hit the outside fastball, but he has been making come-backers to the mound almost a predictable action in every game he has pitched. Not only are hitters overmatched by the pitch, but it almost seems impossible to even hit this pitch out of the infield.
He has honed this pitch into a dangerous weapon, and his command of his straighter fastball keeps hitters honest and from guessing a strike on the inside corner. His inside dominance keeps the outside corner innocent, therefore making him almost impossible to stand in the box comfortably.
His Peak Consistency: What had killed Lester early in his career was not only his problems locating his pitches, but having problems getting into grooves and holding them. There would be glimpses of dominance, and then a recession as he loses control, gives up a pitch over the plate, or tosses too many pitches to one batter without getting him out.
Over the last couple of months, whether it be because of confidence or a better game plan between the Lester/Varitek battery, he has been able to consistently keep his stuff, and control it for pretty much the whole game. In the entire of month of September, he had one, just one, bad inning. And in that game, against the Toronto Blue Jays, he still pitched seven innings.
What is truly amazing about his growth is how harder he is throwing now, then he had in his entire career.
In the two starts against the Angels ( especially in his last start ), he was hitting the corners exquisitely pumping out 93-95, and peaking at 97-98. That, my friend, is something I have never saw come from Lester’s arm, and I am amazed at how commanding he can be throwing that fast. This can be a stretch, but he has that Randy Johnson style where he can locate such a fast pitch. The difference is his pitch-count efficiency is better since he tries to get the ball in play on changing-up his fastball and cutting the fastball down-and-in. But in the fashion by which he dominated the Angels, am I wrong to make a little bit of a comparison?
It may be that he saved his best for the stretch run in the playoffs. Or it could be that he is becoming stronger, more dominant, more poised to be the new ace for the Sox in 2009. If the Lester we have been seeing over the last month, then we will have a superstar on our hands not which has been seen since the dominant Pedro era.
Will the real John Lester please stand up? We have some future Cy Young awards we would like to give you.
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