Jon Lester Pitcher

     
 

Born: January 7, 1984
Puyallup, WA
Height: 6-4
Weight: 220
 Bats: Left
Throws: Left
 Drafted: 2nd Round, 2002
 How Acquired: Draft
 High School:  Bellarmine Preparatory School (WA)

 Photo © Kelly O'Connor

Links
 Player Retrospective: The rise of the $155... (12.11.14)

Traded with Jonny Gomes to Oakland for Yoenis Cespedes (July 2014)

Scouting Report: Very athletic left-hander. Four-seam fastball sits around 93-95 mph and tops out around 97 mph. Also has a two-seamer with good movement. Lester also utilizes an above-average changeup, an 11-to-5 curveball that sits in the high-70s, and a nice cutter. Easy delivery motion with good explosion, similar to Andy Pettitte. Power strikeout pitcher who uses his fastball and occasionally his curve as his out pitch. While Lester typically has top-notch control, sporadically he will have games where his command of certain pitches is really off. Had struggles with consistency early in his career. Very hard worker who prepares well for each game. Great pickoff move. Diagnosed with treatable lymphoma in 2006, but returned to the mound in good health (but not full strength) in 2007 spring training. The velocity of his fastball returned to form in mid-to-late 2007. After battling back from cancer, Lester won the deciding game of the 2007 World Series, and in early 2008, he tossed a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

  
   
    Career Stats                                          
  year team lg level org age w l % era g gs cg sh sv ip h r er hr bb so k/bb
  2002 GCL Red Sox GCL Rk Bos 18 0 1 0.000 13.50 1 1 0 0 0 0.2 5 6 1 0 1 1 1.00
  2003 Augusta SAL A Bos 19 6 9 0.400 3.65 24 21 0 0 0 106.0 102 54 43 7 44 71 1.61
  2004 GCL Red Sox GCL Rk Bos 20 0 0 --- 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0.50
  2004 Sarasota FSL A Bos 20 7 6 0.538 4.28 21 20 0 0 0 90.1 82 46 43 2 37 97 2.62
  2005 Portland East AA Bos 21 11 6 0.647 2.61 26 26 3 1 0 148.1 114 52 43 10 57 163 2.86
  2006 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 22 3 4 0.429 2.70 11 11 0 0 0 46.2 43 17 14 5 25 43 1.72
  2006 Boston AL MLB Bos 22 7 2 0.778 4.76 15 15 0 0 0 81.1 91 43 43 7 43 60 1.40
  2007 Greenville SAL A Bos 23 0 0 --- 2.08 3 3 0 0 0 13.0 11 3 3 2 2 15 7.50
  2007 Portland East AA Bos 23 1 0 1.000 1.50 1 1 0 0 0 6.0 5 1 1 0 4 4 1.00
  2007 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 23 4 5 0.444 3.89 14 14 2 0 0 71.2 67 32 31 4 31 51 1.65
  2007 Boston AL MLB Bos 23 4 0 1.000 4.57 12 11 0 0 0 63.0 61 33 32 10 31 50 1.61
2008 Boston AL MLB Bos 24 16 6 0.727 3.21 33 33 2 2 0 210.1 202 78 75 14 66 152 2.30
2009 Boston AL MLB Bos 25 15 8 0.652 3.41 32 32 2 0 0 203.1 186 80 77 20 64 225 3.52
2010 Boston AL MLB Bos 26 19 9 0.679 3.25 32 32 2 0 0 208.0 167 81 75 14 83 225 2.71
2011 Boston AL MLB Bos 27 15 9 0.625 3.47 31 31 0 0 0 191.2 166 77 74 20 75 182 2.43
  2012 Boston AL MLB Bos 28 9 14 0.391 4.82 33 33 3 0 0 205.1 216 117 110 25 68 166 2.44
  2013 Boston AL MLB Bos 29 15 8 0.652 3.75 33 33 1 1 0 213.1 209 94 89 17 67 177 2.64
  2014 Boston AL MLB Bos 30 10 7 0.588 2.52 21 21 0 0 0 143.0 128 52 40 9 32 149 4.66
  2014 Oakland AL MLB Bos 30 6 4 0.600 2.35 11 11 1 1 0 76.2 66 24 20 7 16  71 4.44
  2015 Chicago NL MLB ChC 31 11 12 0.478 3.34 32 32 1 0 0 205.0 183 83 76 16 47 207 4.40
  2016 Chicago NL MLB ChC 32 19 5 0.792 2.44 32 32 2 0 0 202.2 154 57 55 21 52 197 3.79
  2017 Chicago NL MLB ChC 33 13 8 0.619 4.33 32 32 1 0 0 180.2 179 101 87 26 60 180 3.00
  2018 Chicago NL MLB ChC 34 18 6 0.750 3.32 32 32 0 0 0 181.2 174 75 67 24 64 149 2.33
   
  Additional Player Info  
  Pronunciation: ---
First Pro Contract: August 13, 2002 by Gary Rajsich
Signing Bonus: $1,000,000
MiLB Debut: August 23, 2002 (GCL)
 Added to 40-man: November 18, 2005
MLB Debut: June 10, 2006 (Boston)
     
 

Awards
2005 Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Eastern League All-Star (2005)
Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month (Jun. 2005)
Eastern League Pitcher of the Week (7.10.05)
Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month (Jul. 2005)
2005 Post-Season Eastern League All-Star
2005 Sea Dogs Pitcher of the Year (fan voting)
2005 Eastern League Pitcher of the Year
Red Sox ML Pitcher of the Month (May 2006)
2007 Tony Conigliaro Award
AL Player of the Week (May 19-25, 2008)
NL Pitcher of the Month (June 2018)

 Awards (cont.)
AL Pitcher of the Month (July 2008)
AL Pitcher of the Month (September 2008)
2008 Hutch Award
2009 Red Sox Pitcher of the Year (BBWAA)
AL Pitcher of the Month (May 2010)
American League All-Star (2010)
American League All-Star (2011)

SoxProspects.com Awards
2005 SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Year
2005 SoxProspects.com All-Star - SP
2006 SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star - SP
2014 SoxProspects.com Ex-Prospect of the Year
 
 

 
  
  
  
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