But now, with Lester working hard to recover from a quad contusion suffered in Friday night's loss to the Yankees, we've suddenly become very aware of the thin ice Lester is treading.
All accounts coming out of Boston indicate that Lester is fine. His leg is healing quickly, and he reportedly felt good throwing in a side session on Monday afternoon. He's on track to make his next start, which should be at Fenway Park on Thursday night against the Indians.
If what we're hearing is correct, Lester's health shouldn't be an issue. The Red Sox should hope that his confidence isn't one, either.
Getting hit with a line drive can do a lot to throw off a pitcher's rhythm. Pitching is all about confidence and courage — knowing how to go after a hitter and when to be aggressive. It's never easy to assume that mindset when you've been through a painful experience on the mound.
Remember Matt Clement? The Red Sox signed Clement, then 30, to a three-year, $25.5 million contract to come to Boston in 2005, and at first, it paid off. Clement became an All-Star in the American League right away, going 10-2 with a 3.85 ERA and 97 strikeouts in his first half-season as a member of the Red Sox.
Then the unthinkable happened. On July 26, 2005, in the third inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Clement was hit squarely in the head by a line drive off the bat of Carl Crawford. He was strapped onto a stretcher, carried off the field and taken directly to a St. Petersburg, Fla., hospital.
Like Lester, Clement was poised to make his next start. And he did — but he gave up six runs to the lowly Royals. It was all downhill from there. The All-Star put up a 5.72 ERA in the second half of 2005, and less than a year later, he had pitched his final game in the major leagues. Clement was out of baseball at 31.
I bring this up not to make a direct connection between Clement and Jon Lester. Pitchers get hit by line drives all the time, and a liner to the leg is much less dangerous than one to the skull. But just the same, you have to worry about Lester's confidence being shaken by the events of last Friday night.
Being hit anywhere — the head, the knee, anywhere in between — can be a jarring experience. Any pitcher that endures it needs to have the character and the resolve to work past it.
Luckily, this is Jon Lester we're talking about.
Lester has always been one to fight through adversity. We're talking about a guy who beat cancer at 22, beat the Rockies in the World Series clincher at 23, and pitched his first career no-hitter at 24 years of age. Now, at 25, Lester should have the maturity to work past Friday's setback.
Timing was cruel to the Sox' left-hander. Every pitcher needs to be prepared, mentally and physically, when October rolls around — he needs to have his wits about him. With this in mind, Lester needs Thursday night. He needs to attack the Indians with the same poise that's helped him emerge this season as one of the game's best power pitchers.
Lester won't be Matt Clement. His career is by no means in danger, and he still has a brilliant future ahead of him. But this is late September, and the future is right now.
It's time to forget that Friday night ever happened. There's absolutely no time to waste, and Lester knows it. He's got a lot to prove on Thursday night.
