Jon Lester could tell something wasn’t right. Long known for taking the ball whenever it was his turn to pitch, no matter what — never making fewer than 31 starts in any of the past 12 full Major League Baseball seasons — Lester seemed, to use his phrase, “a little more sluggish.” During games with the Chicago Cubs.
Even between games. And so he wondered: Was he putting in enough work? Is this just what getting old feels like? “There would be times where I would run out in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning and feel like I hit a brick wall.
There were times last year where I would come out of the bullpen and be like: ‘God, did I pitch the game already?’” the 37-year-old Lester, who is now with the Washington Nationals, said Wednesday during a