Jon Lester might not be the most popular man in Boston if he gets dealt by the Red Sox before Thursday’s MLB trade deadline.
The left-handed ace still wears the hometown colors, though, and as a unique report shows, he’s one of biggest attractions in the game today.
One of the most telling statistics about a pitcher’s popularity is how many people watch his starts. During Pedro Martinez’s heyday in Boston, for example, people would flock to Fenway Park to catch a glimpse of the electric right-hander at the peak of his game.
With this in mind, the Wall Street Journal revealed the 10 most “popular” MLB pitchers of 2014 by calculating the percent increase in average home ticket sales (via StubHub) that each pitcher caused during the games in which they took the hill.
Not surprisingly, Lester cracked the top 10 list at No. 9, causing a nine percent bump in ticket sales at Red Sox home games during his starts.
A nine percent increase is all well and good, but that number pales in comparison to other players on the list. New Oakland A’s pitcher Jeff Samardzija, for example, has caused an 68 percent spike in home ticket sales on average between the A’s and Chicago Cubs this season, while Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander has produced a 69 percent raise.
Topping them all, however, is New York Yankees phenom Masahiro Tanaka, who drew a whopping 73 percent more fans to Yankee Stadium in 18 starts this season before landing on the disabled list on July 9.
As you might expect, all ten of the pitchers on the list earned spots on this year’s All-Star teams. Check out the full top 10 below.
1. Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees — 73 percent increase
2. Justin Verlander, Tigers — 69 percent
3. Jeff Samardzija, A’s/Cubs — 68 percent
4. Chris Sale, White Sox — 29 percent
5. David Price, Rays — 27 percent
6. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals — 22 percent
7. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers — 22 percent
8. Adam Wainwright, Cardinals — 10 percent
9. Jon Lester, Red Sox — 9 percent
10. Felix Hernandez, Mariners — 8 percent
