Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Lester in Trouble?

Last season Jon Lester went from Red Sox Nation's favorite best-kept secret to premier big game pitcher, when he pitched like 60 consecutive shut-out innings in the post-season.* Well according to our friend at SI, Tom Verducci, Lester's drastically increased workload last season could spell serious trouble, as he tops the list of dudes at risk for HIV, AIDS, and the dreaded "Year After Effect." We are not smiles times. Take a look:
Verducci also claims that he's a soothsayer, and that most of these pitchers will get chlamydia and die:

How much should those guys be worried? Over the previous three years I red-flagged a total of 24 young pitchers at the start of those seasons. Of those 24 at-risk pitchers, 16 were hurt in that same season. Only one of the 24 pitchers managed to stay healthy and lower his ERA: Ubaldo Jimenez of Colorado, a guy I said would be less at risk because of his powerful body type.

Now this is all very troubling, because we've seen what happens to young, talented pitchers who are overworked (Francisco Liriano, Fausto Carmona, James Nutter, and obviously CC Sabathia this season). Obviously this scares me, but if anyone knows how to handle a situation like this, it's Theo and the braintrust over at The Nation Headquarters. Also, Lester survived cancer, so I think his body might be slightly stronger than most.
Besides, the Sox have like 19 legitimate starting options, so worst-case scenario Clay Buchholz steps in and becomes the new Jon Lester.
Here's the link to Verducci's entire article. (The link opens in a new window!! I did it!!!!!!)

*Not fact-based

Jon Lester potentially sucking - Really shitty

1 comment:

  1. the barstool guy bet on him to win the cy young so we know he wont be winning that

    ReplyDelete

 
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