Lester to start season on DL

[riverside sluggers]

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/redSox/?p=964

 

Jon Lester will start the season on the DL. He will pitch once more in ST, and then he will begin pitching in Class A ball next month

[MANNYHOF24]

This is good for Lester. He needs to regain his strength and command, and probably if all goes well will be the 5th starter by late May, or June 1st.

[a700hitter]

This is good for Lester. He needs to regain his strength and command' date=' and probably if all goes well will be the 5th starter by late May, or June 1st.[/quote']I think he is much further away. I'd be surprised if he got called up before August.

[TGov]

I think he'll be all set by the all-star break...

[jacksonianmarch]

rotoworld is reporting that the sox likely will insert him as the 5th starter in May. I hope it isnt true. I like the kid and think he needs a year.

[TheKilo]

rotoworld is reporting that the sox likely will insert him as the 5th starter in May. I hope it isnt true. I like the kid and think he needs a year.

 

Give them a call I'm sure they'd love to hear your second opinion.

[mar_022]

he's gonna pitch for single-A greenville for four starts, according to the red sox site. I would imagine if all goes well he'd move up level by level (maybe two-three starts at each) and be up in mid may. this is, however, assuming no setbacks

[ksushi]

I think I'd rather see him play against more talented/polished AAA hitters for awhile before going to the majors again rather than putting down a bunch of single A and double A hitters.

[BoSox21]

with any luck, we won't need him this year

[mar_022]

I think I'd rather see him play against more talented/polished AAA hitters for awhile before going to the majors again rather than putting down a bunch of single A and double A hitters.

 

ksushi, i'm right there with you...4 starts at greenville, what is that about? I figured he could at least start at AA. Even if he went to AA or AAA for a longer period of time, i think that would help more than single A. I like their cautious approach, but i just hope they don't hold back too much, Jon seems like hes amped to start pitching

[ksushi]

I don't mind the 4 starts at Greenville. It makes sense, they can monitor what hes doing much better there. After the DL stint though, I'd like to see him compete in some AAA games.

[BoSox21]

with all due respect to the people posting here, I don't think anyone of us knows the proper rehab program to bringing a guy back from cancer. I trust the doctors and specialists the organization consulted when they were deciding how to handle Lester

[BSN07]

with all due respect to the people posting here' date=' I don't think anyone of us knows the proper rehab program to bringing a guy back from cancer. I trust the doctors and specialists the organization consulted when they were deciding how to handle Lester[/quote']

 

Good point:thumbsup:

[riverside sluggers]

Lester pitched against a Minnesota Twins farm team. He went 4 innings, allowing no hits, walking 1 and striking out 5

[jacksonianmarch]

Lester pitched against a Minnesota Twins farm team. He went 4 innings' date=' allowing no hits, walking 1 and striking out 5[/quote']

 

solid and good news. Hopefully he continues to face farm teams. He needs a yr.

[a700hitter]

solid and good news. Hopefully he continues to face farm teams. He needs a yr.

Agreed. I would not rush him to the majors, especially in the heat of a penant race in Boston.

[riverside sluggers]

What I like to hear

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ar_5wig5jr0fmFcnLzJ5UkoRvLYF?slug=ap-redsox-lester&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

Lester started opening day for the Single A Greenville drive against the Yankees' affiliate team. He went 4 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, striking out 5 while walking just 1. At one time the scoreboard flashhed 96 mph. He'll make 3 more starts for Greenville

[BoSox21]

holy crap, did he really throw gas like that last season? I dont remember it

[HeadOfSoxNation]

There's no way Lester throws 96...

 

Was the reading seen on a chalkboard held by Jon's mom?

 

I love Lester...but he doesn't throw 96.

[BSN07]

Actually him in the mid 90's isn't surprising. Before he got sick and before he came up to the Sox, in AA all I heard was that he sat around 91-94 and toped out at 96- 97 MPH, maybe hes getting his velocity back.

[riverside sluggers]

Bingo Bosox. In the minors his fastball range has been 92-95, sometimes he did throw harder ones if he needed to get a crucial out. When he got called up to the majors, it was sitting in the 89-92 range. That might have been some effect from being sick

[HeadOfSoxNation]

When he got called up to the majors' date=' it was sitting in the 89-92 range. That [b']might [/b]have been some effect from being sick

 

I don't think it was due to the sickness. I mentioned it before...generally speaking, it's not cancer that makes someone weak and frail. It's the treatment to the cancer that can really drain someone. Maybe he was dialing it down because he didn't think he could control it as well when he dialed it up...but I'll tell you one thing, he never got anywhere close to 96 in the Majors that I've seen.

[mar_022]

I don't think it was due to the sickness. I mentioned it before...generally speaking' date=' it's not cancer that makes someone weak and frail. It's the treatment to the cancer that can really drain someone. Maybe he was dialing it down because he didn't think he could control it as well when he dialed it up...but I'll tell you one thing, he never got anywhere close to 96 in the Majors that I've seen.[/quote']

 

watch the highlights from his debut against texas...i'm almost positive he hit 94 on one of his strikeouts on Gary Matthews Jr. Just one example

[jacksonianmarch]

I don't think it was due to the sickness. I mentioned it before...generally speaking' date=' it's not cancer that makes someone weak and frail. It's the treatment to the cancer that can really drain someone. Maybe he was dialing it down because he didn't think he could control it as well when he dialed it up...but I'll tell you one thing, he never got anywhere close to 96 in the Majors that I've seen.[/quote']

 

depends on the type of cancer, but you are right for the most part. His only symptom to that point was back pain, which was from localized invasion from the disease. After awhile, he would have felt as if he had the flu all the time until the cancer finally would have been noticed. He wasnt there yet, so I'd assume that his strength was near 100% for most of his debut in Boston. Then again, I'm not his oncologist, so I can only give so much.

[a700hitter]

It wasn't his strength that was the problem. It was his command.

[ksushi]

When I saw him in pawtucket last year he threw 97 once and the radar said 95 probably more than three or four times. He can throw hard. He always sits, 92-94 and thats largely where he was in the majors, too. Towards the end we saw a lot of 88-90 and that could have been because of the sore back... which turned out to be more than just a sore back.

[BSN07]

I also think that his command was shaly when he first came up and thats why he had it dialed down. Now he is getting back to strength and maybe gearing it back up...

[ksushi]

No, I doubt Lester took anything off his ball intentionally. He wasn't hopelessly wild, he was off the plate, and didn't get a lot of calls being a rookie, and missed his spots. He likes to live on the black, and when he gets into a groove he is almost unhittable, thats why at every level hes pitched at he has much less hits than innings pitched. He throws up a lot of zero's when he gets into his zone. He wasn't matt clement wild, but he was still frustrating to watch a lot of times.

[riverside sluggers]

All I can say is again, keep it up Lester

 

rotoworld

Jon Lester threw four scoreless innings and struck out five Tuesday in his second start for low Single-A Greenville.

 

He allowed three singles and walked one. Lester, who also pitched four shutout innings last Thursday, is scheduled to make two more starts for Greenville, going five innings each time.

 

2 starts, 0.00 ERA

8 innings, 5 Hits, 2 Walks, 10 Ks

[jacksonianmarch]

they are keeping him in A ball to get his confidence up. The hitters at that level are no match for him. Once he gets to AAA, he should at least get tested a little.