Jon Lester recalled approaching a crossroads as his 2012 season with the Red Sox was ending and that prompted him to make some changes.
Lester, 33, hopes his adjustments in his delivery and preparation continue to pay off with nearly four years left on his six-year, $155 million contract.
“Before the stuff goes, I hope I’m as lucky as (John) Lackey … and I don’t have to worry about completely overhauling the way I go about pitching,” Lester said Friday as he returned to Fenway Park for the first time since the Red Sox traded him at the deadline in 2014.
Lester, who won 19 games last year to go with a 2.44 ERA, said he makes a greater effort to be prepared, whether it was studying scouting reports or seeing ways to gain more information with the help now of coach Mike Borzello.
“I think that’s the next step, continuing with that and getting better with that, and hopefully the stuff stays,” said Lester, who has a 3.68 ERA in five starts.
Home sweet home: Cubs President Theo Epstein made no secret about his roots after returning to Fenway Park, where he worked for 10 seasons.
“You have only one hometown,” Epstein said. “This is my hometown. It’s more than that to me. I fell in love with baseball. My parents and brother still live here. I spent 10 years working in this ballpark. My first son was born here. I met my wife here. I’ll always have affection for the Red Sox, the team I grew up rooting for.”
Epstein attended the final two innings of Thursday’s game between the Yankees and Red Sox with childhood friend and Red Sox executive Sam Kennedy.
“I’m definitely a Bostonian. I’m just lucky to have a great second home in Chicago,” Epstein said. “How lucky is that?”
NL over AL: Though playing under American League rules allowed Joe Maddon to use Kyle Schwarber as the designated hitter Friday, the Cubs manager still prefers the National League game.
“We’re still scoring five runs per night playing a National League game,” Maddon said. “It’s just a better brand of baseball. It’s real baseball. Sorry American Leaguers.”
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