Jon Lester: Why He's Poised to Become AL's Second-Best Pitcher in 2011

With 172 career starts before the age of 25, Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in the American League.

Who's No. 2?

CC Sabathia? Justin Verlander? Jered Weaver? David Price? 

These guys are certainly all contenders, Price in particular. The 25-year-old, now the clear ace of the Rays, finished second to Hernandez in Cy Young voting last year and all signs point to him building off of his monster 2010 in 2011.

None of these guys, however, are the second-best pitcher in the American League.

That honor goes to Jon Lester.

Lester turned heads and garnered praise from all corners of the baseball world in 2007, his second year in the majors, when he tossed 5.2 scoreless innings to take the win in Game Four of the World Series, the clinching game for the victorious Boston Red Sox.

Not even a year prior Lester was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, for which he underwent successful chemotherapy over the winter.

With his cancer fight behind him heading into spring training in 2007, Lester not only had to build his strength back up, he had to work his way back up through Boston's system.

Lester's year began at Single-A Greenville and ended in a raucous celebration in the visitor's clubhouse at Coors Field, drenched in champagne, the winning pitcher of the clinching game of Boston's second title in four years.

Not bad, huh? A perfectly scripted story, with the fairy-tale ending to top it all off.

Lester's great success, however, has been in what he has done since his magical night in 2007. The native of Tacoma, Wa., who turned 27 this past January, has emerged as one of baseball's finest starting pitchers. 

Lester lacks the vaudeville bravado of Pedro Martinez and even with his 2007 Series win, he cannot point to a defining game like Curt Schilling. He does not have the same fiery temperament as rotation-mate Josh Beckett. 

Say what you want about Lester, but one thing he will be is Boston's Opening Day starter when the Red Sox get 2011 rolling at Texas on April 1.

Although much kudos also should go to Clay Buchholz, it is Jon Lester who has risen to claim the title of Boston's bona fide ace, a mantle that has had no worthy occupant since Pedro.

Schilling and Beckett have each had their spin under the limelight, but it is admittedly hard to fill the shoes of the Martinez, arguably the greatest pitcher of his generation.

So how has Lester gotten to where he is now? He's quietly chugged along the past three seasons, occasionally flashing an understated fist pump, to the tune of 97 starts over 621 2/3 IP.

Over this span Lester has gone 50-23 with a 3.29 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP and a .240 BAA.

He has nearly three strike outs for every walk.

He tossed a no-hitter in 2008.

He won 19 games last year, his first year as an All-Star.

He ended up finishing fourth in Cy Young voting, behind Sabathia.

But somehow, despite his increasingly impressive resume and his presence on the high-profile Red Sox, Lester has flown under the radar, relatively speaking.

It's only now that he's being mentioned at the same level as guys like Sabathia and Verlander, or, to draw upon some comparable NL names, Cliff Lee and Matt Cain. Note that these are starters who've been regarded as very good for several seasons now (not necessarily great, a la Hernandez or Tim Lincecum).

Lester has been on this same level too, with a sub-3.50 ERA and at least 15 wins in each of the past three seasons.

If Lester has had one stumbling block though, it's that he's a slow starter. Looking again at his three-year split reveals a 4.58 ERA in April, Lester's highest monthly ERA by more than a full run. And he wasn't immune to this trend last year, giving up 15 earned runs over his first three starts before settling down.

The real numbers that matter, however, are the ones thrown on the backs of baseball cards: Season totals. And Lester has been doing fine in that department for the past three years now, with a noticeable uptick across the board in 2010. Good to great.

Watch out for more good stuff from Jonny L. in 2011. See him deal his best to the defending AL champs on April 1.

Now that's no joke.

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