Chicago Cubs pitcher Jon Lester pulled himself out of the game on Thursday, and later in the evening there were reports he might miss the rest of the season.
However, after visiting with a specialist, there’s good news for Lester and the Cubs.
Early indications are Lester injury is pretty minor. Still waiting to hear from him and DL likely, but this is a best-case.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 18, 2017
Lester saw doc last night. Everything structurally sound. He has tightness in lat & general shoulder fatigue. Cubs don't expect long DL stay
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 18, 2017
Cubs have potentially dodged a major injury here with Lester. They sound very optimistic and visit with doc was very positive.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 18, 2017
While it’s been far from a brilliant 2017 campaign for Lester. He’s posted a 8-7 record, 4.37 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. All those numbers are way down from his totals last year.
However, he’s still one of the best pitchers Chicago has. And he’s an experienced playoff competitor. So losing him for an extended amount of time certainly would have hurt the Cubs.
Thankfully it appears Lester dodged some bad news here. It appears Lester will, at least, be back well in time for the playoffs, if Chicago can make it in.