Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wrote a column comparing Jose Quintana to Jon Lester, titled “Cubs Accurately Rate Underrated Jose Quintana.” The two successful pitchers’ surface numbers essentially are mirror images, as Sullivan astutely pointed out.
| SP | Starts | IP/Start | WAR | K% | BB% | Strike% | HR/FB% |
| Quintana | 96 | 6.3 | 13.9 | 22% | 6% | 64% | 9% |
| Lester | 97 | 6. |