Jon Lester’s Adjustments Are Working But He Still Hated Getting Pulled and Other Bullets

August 23, 2018, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

It’s been a very good thing that this week in the Cubs’ world has been so nuts and active, because otherwise I’m sure I would have lost myself down some political wormholes and Ohio State wormholes. Lot goin’ on out there. But there’s been plenty of Cubs to distract me …

Jon Lester was solid again last night, though he was not pleased to be pulled when he was in the 6th inning (Cubs.com): “As a competitor, you’re not always going to like the decisions of your boss. That’s nothing against Joe [Maddon]. I respect the hell out of Joe. He’s done a great job managing our team since he’s been here. As a competitor, I don’t have to like the decision. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect our manager and what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to win a baseball game and if he feels that’s the time to make the move, that’s the time to make the move.” It certainly helps that Steve Cishek got out of the inning.
Speaking of Cishek: best Cubs free agent signing? Gotta be, right? He now has a 1.78(!) ERA over 61 appearances and 58.0 innings of relief. The guy has been a freak.
Joe Maddon ain’t scared:

#Cubs Maddon on Lester's look when he took the pitcher out: "If you can withstand John Lackey's stare, you can withstand almost any stare. It's like the different levels of laser beams."

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) August 23, 2018

Hopefully we’re seeing a meaningful adjustment from Lester these last couple very successful starts. The velocity and movement haven’t necessarily shown obvious issues, but Lester tells Cubs.com that he has instead been working on the angle of his fastball in his last three starts. Sure enough, looking at Brooks, you can see clear changes in his horizontal and vertical release points the last few starts, so he’s obviously adjusting something mechanically. That’s a good sign when it’s paired with results.

The Cubs have gone 3-3 in these six games, so that kinda sucks:

#Cubs pitching last 6 games:
1.34 ERA, 53.2 IP, 48 Hits, 16 BB, 37 K, 1.193 WHIP

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) August 23, 2018

What’s incredible is that the Cubs probably could have had similar pitching and LOST another game or two in that stretch, given that two of the three wins were 1-0.
Daniel Murphy had a successful Cubs debut, with a couple hits and an RBI, and he sounds very enthused to be part of this team (Cubs.com): “I’ve seen the maturation of [Javier Baez] over the years and Rizzo has had fantastic at-bats, and I’ve seen Willson Contreras grow up right in front of my eyes. Jason Heyward is having a really good year, too. I’m just going to fall in line. That’s my job is to come in here and compete every single pitch and fall in line …. I told [Joe Maddon] to deploy me as he sees fit. This is about winning a championship.”
For the record, Jed Hoyer says the Cubs did consider Murphy’s past comments about the “gay lifestyle” before acquiring him this week, and reached out to MLB’s Ambassador for Inclusion Billy Bean, who was the subject of Murphy’s comments in 2015 (Sun-Times). “We wanted to get his impression on it,” Hoyer said. “He was really positive and thought the organization could really benefit from his presence. We felt it was important to make that phone call.” I am pleased to know that the Cubs did affirmatively consider this issue before proceeding. I still wish – for me personally, as a Cubs fan – I could hear from Murphy directly about how his perspective has evolved (or not) over the past three years and through his friendship with Bean, but I accept that it probably isn’t going to happen.
I mean, does this surprise anyone in the slightest:

Most pickoff attempts by an #MLB catcher, 2018:

73 = Willson Contreras
28 = Martín Maldonado
23 = Manny Piña#Cubs' Contreras has attempted more than 2.5 times as many pickoffs as any other catcher in the majors this season.

— Aidan Jackson-Evans (@ajacksonevans) August 22, 2018

For all his recent offensive struggles, and his continued development as a receiver, I still don’t think there’s a better defensive catcher in baseball. Contreras doesn’t just make the plays available to him, he’s an affirmative weapon. He changes the running game for the other team, while also making outs appear out of nowhere in the situations you need them most.
Man, Sammy didn’t just hit little shots – he hit BOMBS, even when it kinda looked like he was a little off-balance:

#SummerOfSammy: With his family in the crowd, Sosa launched HRs #50 and #51 to keep pace with Mark McGwire in the '98 record race: https://t.co/xokEbaiSLa pic.twitter.com/oSDmkLLzfx

— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) August 23, 2018

Three and a half Tommy John surgeries later, this is so cool:

Tonight Jonny Venters recorded his first save with the @Braves in exactly seven years. pic.twitter.com/ssHL3aiUJ6

— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) August 23, 2018

He might be ready, but I’m not sure I am:

"I honestly look at the city of Chicago as a place that God brought into my life for a special reason."

White Sox phenom Eloy Jimenez can't wait to get started on the South Side.https://t.co/iOtjA1BQo6

— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) August 23, 2018

All right, Coach. I’m gonna trust you:

Matt Nagy Promises the Bears Are Going Deep In 2018 and We Should Believe Him https://t.co/WeIqAj76uv pic.twitter.com/zzInYGZen7

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) August 23, 2018

Knives, stealth cameras, and camping wagons are among the Deals of the Day at Amazon, so I think you need to go do a little Man Versus Wild stuff this weekend.

Filed to: Chicago Cubs