The ace
Red Sox manager Terry Francona will not name an Opening Day starter for several weeks, perhaps not until a few days before the opener at Texas on April 1. It would qualify as a mildly shocking development if Jon Lester was not the name, though.
It could also be a bit surprising if Lester has anything remotely akin to a step back in 2011. Such has been the methodical, impressive and, at times, downright dominant progression of the rotation's best pitcher. The left-hander was 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA last year, striking out 225 for the second straight year — his 450 Ks in that span are more than all but two pitchers in baseball.
Despite the phenomenal season, Lester, now 27, said he has often though of his final start of the 2010 season, a four-inning, eight-run stinker in Chicago that kept him from becoming the first Red Sox southpaw to reach 20 wins since Mel Parnell in 1953.
"A little bitter taste in my mouth," Lester said of how he went through the offseason.
While nobody, except maybe the White Sox, wanted to see Lester fall short of the milestone, the way in which it occurred simply gave him more motivation in his bid to cement himself as the best pitcher in baseball, as teammate John Lackey called him.
"It's the last thing I remember," Lester added.
However, before the southpaw makes Lackey look wise, he has a pair of obstacles to overcome, as bizarre as that sounds for a guy who was a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate before that final start. He did see his walks increase in 2010 and once again needed a handful of starts early in the year before he put it all together — Lester was 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA after three starts.
As for the bases on balls, one of the more intense and focused players on the team needs to become more so.
"It's all mental, just trying to keep that edge and trying to not be stupid messing around with guys," he said. "I'd rather give up more hits than walks."
There were actually nine starts last year in which that was not the case, more than the previous two years combined.
So, as Lester enters his fourth full season with the Red Sox, he has a bitter taste in his mouth, objectives in mind and is as focused as ever. That's not great news for opponents, but figures to give Boston something special.
Other options
There are no replacements for Lester, but it's not as if the Red Sox have guys who are strangers to the "ace" role. In Josh Beckett and a more settled John Lackey, the club has staff leaders. Clay Buchholz is a No. 1 pitcher on most other teams.
If all else fails
The Sox would suddenly be very right-handed in the rotation if Lester would go down. One guy who could balance that out is Felix Doubront, a candidate to pick up starts if and when there are injuries in the rotation. He is a lefty with a similar arsenal to Lester, but has just three starts at the major league level.
