Jon Lester

[KeepTheFaith1229]

I saw Hansen pitch (I think it was Friday), and he didn't look very good. He was all over the place. Walked the bases loaded, but then got out of the jam with no runs allowed. Showed good poise.

[Cityofchampions33]

Yeah, one thing I haven't seen him do is locate his pitches that well. His fastball is always missing and is never consistent. His slider was good though, getting him a K.

[stocker323]

Lester was optioned down to AAA Pawtucket today.

[ksushi]

Yeah, one thing I haven't seen him do is locate his pitches that well. His fastball is always missing and is never consistent. His slider was good though, getting him a K.

 

But how many times have you seen him? Never and always are big words

[riverside sluggers]

Lester was optioned down to AAA Pawtucket today.

 

I just read that even though he is being optioned, Lester is still penciled down for 2 more starts. One of which comes this Thursday against Tampa

 

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060313&content_id=1347832&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

[Cityofchampions33]

what I'm talking about is that his delivery isn't as smooth as say Schilling where you know it's a strike right when he throws it, and that it seems like it doesn't have a consistent delivery.

[CrespoBlows]

Lester will probably start tommorow.

 

He'll be looking to improve upon his 3.2 IP debut.

[jsinger121]

Lester is starting tomorrow so hopefully his start will be better than his first start

[buddylove]

I went to check out his start on Monday. Lester gave up some hits but more importantly walked a bunch of guys in his 2 1/3 innings. He had great velocity in the low to mid 90's but was very high with many of his pitches.

[CrespoBlows]

Did you see any of his secondary stuff? I'm curious to see how those looked.

[buddylove]

He had good movement but nothing found the plate, just one of those nights. If he is pitching Thursday I'm going to go again.

[a700hitter]

FO should move fast to package him for Dontrelle Willis before Lester loses value. I for one don't buy the hype on the kid. When I saw him at ST he showed nothing exceptional.

[ksushi]

I'm sorry, but everything you saw is short sighted and boring. You give up on people so fast. Lester is an exceptional prospect. I want you to go and take a look at how Greg Maddux started in the Major Leagues. Then look up how Johan Santana did in his first two years. Relax. It was his first time facing competition that good. Most scouts say Lester is more polished than Papelbon. Maybe the kid doesn't have the kind of stones Papelbon does. Everything I read from the coaches and players say there were minor details about him that let him get hammered. He was tipping his pitches, he wasn't throwing well out of the stretch. Minor things that come out when you pitch in the major leagues that might not neccessarily show up in the minors. He is a very good prospect. His stock isn't dropping. Don't be like every other Red Sox fan out there and think only in the here and now, like all the people whining about the Pena deal.

[a700hitter]

Lester needs more than minor adjustments. Mark my words. This kid will not hit the major league scene anytime soon as a major contributor. I think he is at least 3 or 4 years away from being a top of the rotation type starter if ever. If he continues this string of ineffective starts, he will lose value. As a lefty, there will always be someone willing to take a chance on him, but the Sox FO should not wait too long for him develop. If it starts to look like he is taking a step backward from last year, they should package him up for a top line major leaguer. Why are posters on these boards so emotionally attached to these minor leaguers? They are not our kids. They are merely assets of the Red Sox to be used in the best way to improve the team. I would love to see this kid be the Johan Santana of the Red Sox, but that's is far on the horizon. I'd also love it if they used the kid to get Willis or Cabrera from the Marlins.

[ksushi]

I think you're being ridiculous. He's got a 3.86 ERA in pawtucket, and he had a bad spring, and you're ready to say that one of the top prospects in all of baseball is garbage that no one should take a chance on. You're also the guy who wanted Francona to go to the bullpen in like the 4th inning of todays game. You're a little premature. Just breathe for a little while. The kid is a fine prospect, and yes, his problems are quite minor. Just because he let up a lot of runs in the spring doesn't mean hes a bad player. I'd like to find some of the things you said about Papelbons spring. I bet you were calling for him to be traded too. Tipping your pitches can do a lot of damage and throwing 5 mph slower out of the stretch can hurt you too. He had a good spring stuff wise and when he got into trouble he did battle back some, but usually the damage was already done. He made ortiz throw his bat in batting practice and his curve had a lot of people bailing out, especially righties. He will contribute this year. He will be in a role, similar to Papelbon last year, after this all star break. To say he won't contribute until he is 26 or 27 is ridiculous.

[a700hitter]

Please don't misquote me. I said the he will not be a top of the rotation pitcher for 3 or 4 years. I didn't say that he would not contribute at all for 3 or 4 years. He'll probably hit the big league roster much sooner. I also didn't say that he is "garbage that no one should take a chance on." In fact, I said that because he is a lefty someone will always want to take a chance on him. I wish people would read the words in my post rather than reading words that they think are in my posts. My point is that you want prospects to yield the highest possible value. They shelf life of a top prospect is not long. After a couple of years, if they don't make it big, they are just another guy. I don't see Lester being Johan Santana in the next couple of years.

 

BTW I don't recall posting similar sentiments about Papelbon.

[ksushi]

I didn't say he is gonna be Johan, I said look at how Johan starteed out. Early results mean nothing. Nothing. There is absolutely no indication that Lester was a flash in the pan. Sure, he might not be the next great pitcher out there, but do you know how valuable it would be to have a home grown, inexpensive #3 starter? If thats all he is, thats still very good. And think of the upside this guy has. You don't trade that because that can allow you to do so many things with your payroll. If you have youre 1-2-3 locked up and relatively inexpensive with Beckett, Papelbon and Lester, your 4 and 5 starters can be brought in via free agency, and you can put together the best rotation in baseball. Not to mention the FO has done a great job at stocking young bullpen arms, which are also a rare commodity. Keeping these guys is essential. I don't think I would be in a rush to trade Lester anywhere. In a deal for Willis, if its right, I'd think about it, sure. But rushing into it is a bad idea. All indications point to Lester being a good pitcher. He has the chance to be a great pitcher.

[a700hitter]

Not to mention the FO has done a great job at stocking young bullpen arms, which are also a rare commodity. Keeping these guys is essential.

Keeping the right ones is important. The rest are bargaining chips that need to be moved before they lose value. The art is figuring out which is which.

[ksushi]

I don't think lester is a guy who you move. He has way too much potential. We'll see what he can do after the all star break. I'm confident he will impress.

[Cityofchampions33]

ksushi, there's no point into buying into 700's crap, I think I'd bank on Theo's trying to keep him over the years (besides ARod trade), his Baseball America top 30 ranking, and being dubbed one of baseball's future top lefties. If he's in AAA, i doubt he'd be 2-3 years away, if he had so much to work on, he'd be in AA still. One start, and your disliking of one ST outing means nothing, who knows, maybe he as trying to work on a new pitch, and since your not any type of scout you'll never know.

[Teddyballgame10]

how did lester pitch today?

[Teddyballgame10]

nvm here it is 2.0 IP 5 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 2SO 2HR 12.46 ins aloss

 

why does he pitch so few innings

[Beckett95]

nvm here it is 2.0 IP 5 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 2SO 2HR 12.46 ins aloss

 

that doesnt look good. I was hoping he'd pitch well enough to possibly be in the roation by all-star break if we dont find a replacement for Wells.

[jsinger121]

He pitches so few innings because when you struggle why waste your arm out there.

 

Its still too early to make assessments on Lester after 2 starts and besides the Marlins have already said the reports that they were going to move Cabrera and Willis were false.

[a700hitter]

I hope he makes it big. I hope the kid comes up in a month or two and electrifies the Fenway Faithful like Papelbon did last year. I don't see it happening. He's not that close. Don't forget that he is younger than Papelbon. However, if he starts to regress they should move him while his value is so high.

[ksushi]

I'm sorry, but are you a scout?

[jsinger121]

I'm sorry, but are you a scout?

 

Hes not but tries to act like one.

[ksushi]

Lester is working on things right now. Those kinks that led to a bad ML out put are getting hammered out in AAA. Hence the bad outings. What he is doing in AAA is fine tuning. Thats why he isn't getting innings, thats why he isn't getting results. They did it to Hansen too. He started a game, he pitched in relief the next day, he threw all change ups and fastballs for awhile. They're building these kids up.

[a700hitter]

Hes not but tries to act like one.

Duh, don't all fans act like scouts, Mr. "Miller will be drafted first"?

[jsinger121]

He's only getting drafted first since there really is no other great players coming out this year. Had Pedro Alvarez out of Vanderbilt been eligible and he wouldn't be cause he is a freshman I would easily take him over Miller. Oh and when he goes in the top 5 in the 2008 draft if not number 1, Red Sox fans will cry for not signing him out of high school.