NEWSLETTER
Here’s the thing about Jon Lester at the plate. Despite starting his career with an unthinkable – even for a pitcher – 0-66 streak, he really does have good at bats. He has a solid swing, and he is annually now one of the hardest-hitting pitchers in baseball.
The thing is, he just didn’t get a lot of lift on the ball. But I seem to recall reading somewhere that he got a little instruction on that, and, although pitching will always be the priority, he worked a little bit on the lift.
And tonight, it all paid off – DINGER:
Are you kidding me? Jon Lester adds to the home run party by hitting the first dinger of his career. Wow. pic.twitter.com/tzZSxl9911
— Cubs Talk (@CSNCubs) August 2, 2017
It’s a year of firsts for Lester, who also had his first REAL pickoff earlier this year. He and John Lackey had a longstanding bet about which of them would be the first to hit a homer, and it looks like Lackey will have to pay up.
How about the Spanish call of Lester’s homer:
¡Adiós pelota!
Spanish-language live stream right here: https://t.co/OWY45dO020 pic.twitter.com/hBFbIWjRps
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) August 2, 2017
Lester even hit his homer further than either of Ian Happ and Anthony Rizzo, who’d each gone deep earlier:
https://twitter.com/cubsexitvelo/status/892556817636700161
Deservedly, Lester got the curtain call:
https://twitter.com/kg_holler/status/892557322110873600
