John Farrell has seen Jon Lester [stats] at his absolute best. Yesterday, the ex-Red Sox [team stats] pitching coach watched his former pupil hit rock bottom.
Even after compiling an advanced scouting report that suggested Lester had more chinks in his armor than at any other point in his career, Farrell didn?t expect to see the outing the Sox starter produced yesterday in the Toronto Blue Jays? 15-7 victory.
Lester allowed home runs on his first and last pitches, and the Blue Jays totaled 11 runs against him on nine hits in one of the dozen worst starts in Red Sox history.
?That?s not a typical day for Jon Lester, by any means,? said Farrell, now in his second season as Blue Jays manager. ?He?s a damn good pitcher, a talented one. As we?ve seen from our own guys, they go through stretches where things aren?t clicking and it just goes to show you that the elite in this game ride a little bit of a fine line between their performances being consistent and well above average, and days when they scuffle, and that was one today.?
As Red Sox pitching coach from 2007-10, Farrell oversaw Lester?s transformation from talented youngster to All-Star and legit No. 1 pitcher.
Yesterday, Farrell noticed a piece of the lefty?s arsenal that was missing.
?Through our reports and seeing him early in the year, there?s been a little bit more of a tendency to miss over the plate and miss up in the strike zone a little bit,? Farrell said. ?The devastating cutter that he?s had for so long might not be as sharp right now, so it gains a little length in the break to it. I think our hitters are able to see it a little bit earlier in the flight to home plate. We laid off some pretty tough pitches, but we didn?t miss many when they found their way into the middle of the plate.?
The result was home runs for Brett Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia, Rajai Davis, and finally, Travis Snider in the fifth.
?I think the boys set the tone,? Snider said. ?First pitch of the game, Lawrie comes out swinging, and then J.P. and the rest of the at-bats we put together against a good pitcher like Lester. We?ve struggled here in the past against these guys. To come out with a sweep is really something to build off of.?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bostonherald/sports/baseball/red_sox/~3/m0G_NDILMZI/view.bg
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