Slow and Steady MLB Pitchers: Jon Lester
Jon Lester’s 4-seam fastball velocity this season is 90.1 mph. That’s off nearly a full mile per hour from last year, and more than two mph from five years ago. He ranks only in the seventh percentile for pure velocity.
Yet with a 3-1 record and a 1.16 ERA in seven starts, Lester may be off to one of the best starts of his career. The Cubs staff leader hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 20 innings of work.
The reasons lay in all the peripherals that good pitchers learn when they no longer can rely on blowing the ball past hitters. His walk rate is just 5.1 percent, and only 6.8 percent of his pitches find the heart of the plate.
He also keeps the ball out of the air. Forty-four percent of his ball contacts are ground balls, 34 percent of those weak ones.
Lester is also unpredictable, a true four-pitch guy. He throws his 4-seamer less than 40 percent of the time, mixing in his cutter almost as frequently and throwing both his curve and changeup more than 10 percent of the time.
Despite not possessing the same raw pitching attributes, Lester has reduced his WHIP from 1.4 as a young star to 1.12 so far as a 35-year-old in 2019.