For the first time since 2011, Jon Lester picked off a runner
Much has been made about Chicago Cubs pitcher Jon Lester’s issues throwing to first base this season. On Tuesday, he was briefly able to conquer his demons. That’s right, for the first time in four years, Jon Lester picked off a runner at first base.
The play took place in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, outfielder Starling Marte reached on a single to right field. Marte thought he could take advantage of Lester’s throwing issues, and attempted to break for second as Lester was getting ready to deliver a pitch to Andrew McCutchen.
Marte left too soon, however, and suddenly found himself way too far from the base. Lester had yet to go into his windup, and quickly hopped off the mound. He was able to make an accurate throw to Anthony Rizzo at first. Rizzo tossed the ball to Starlin Castro, who threw the ball back to Rizzo. Rizzo then tagged Marte, giving Lester the pickoff.
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To be fair, this was less of a pickoff, and more of an awful base-running blunder by Marte. That said, we still have to give a lot of credit to Lester for making the play.
The Cubs were well aware of Lester’s throwing issues when they signed him, and the 31-year-old pitcher actually practiced making throws from the mound to first during spring training.
Coming into the season, Lester hadn’t attempted a pickoff throw to first since April 2013. His first one with the Cubs, which was also his first pickoff attempt in two years, sailed into the outfield for an error. Due to his case of the yips, Lester has allowed an astounding 42 stolen bases this season.
Still, he came out on top Tuesday, and seemed pretty happy about it.
He had every reason to be excited. Aside from notching his first pickoff in years, Lester also tossed his first complete game of the season during the team’s 2-1 victory. It came against the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates, making the win even sweeter.
Lester has now collected his first pickoff in years, and picked up the first hit of his career this season. We don’t know what his next “first” will be, but we’re definitely looking forward to it.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
