It’s no secret. Jon Lester didn’t pitch up to the standards he or the Chicago Cubs organization expected in 2019. The three-time World Series champion struggled to a 4.46 ERA while allowing a league-worst 205 hits across 171 2/3 innings of work.
Despite those shortcomings last season, Lester took the ball 30 times for the 12th consecutive season – a daunting task in today’s game. His overall numbers took a big hit over a trio of starts where he allowed at least seven earned runs. All told, 24 of his 85 allowed earned runs came in those outings.