Lester-Lackey, Part Two

Last week, Red Sox lefty Jon Lester and Angels righty John Lackey met in Anaheim for the first game of a much anticipated division series. On one hand, the Red Sox won the World Series last season, had beaten the Angels in the playoffs about nine straight times, and despite winning the wild card, were considered by many to be the superior time. On the other hand, the Angels won the most games in the junior circuit, and actually went 8-1 against the Red Sox in the regular season, with the Halos winning eight in a row.

In game one, the Red Sox would not start Josh Beckett, one of the, if not the best playoff pitchers we have ever seen, and instead go with Jon Lester. Lester, a star in the making, had a breakout season this year, amassing 210.1 innings of 3.21 ERA/3.64 FIP pitching. He had a WHIP of 1.27 and a nice K/BB of 2.30. A hard thrower, Lester threw his 93 mph fastball close to 60% of the time this year, relying on a cutter and a curveball to make up the rest of his deliveries. His season was so good, and perhaps even unexpectedly good, that he has actually been able to shake the reputation as being primarily a cancer survivor, and instead become known as an extremely good pitcher.

The Angels decided to send their ace, John Lackey, to face Lester. Despite missing time earlier in the season, Lackey made 24 starts this year, in which he posted a 3.75 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 3.25 K/BB. If there was one blemish, it was that his FIP suggested his ERA should be closer to the 4.53 mark. The Red Sox took game one from the Angels, with Lester giving up one unearned run over six hits in seven innings. He issued just one free pass and fanned seven hitters. Lackey lasted 6.2 innings, giving up four hits and two runs, while walking three and striking out five.

While Lackey has been a good pitcher for quite some time now, he is still remembered for being a rookie pitching in game seven of the 2002 World Series against the Giants. That post-season, he appeared in five games, three of which were starts, posting a 2.42 ERA and 2.25 FIP in 22.1 innings. Since that time, he has made five playoff starts, in which he has produced a 4.34 ERA and 4.90 FIP in 29 innings. His achilles heel has been walks.

In 2002, he issued six walks and struck out 17 hitters. Since then, 15 walks to go with his 21 strikeouts. A team like the Red Sox cannot be given extra baserunners in the form of walks, so if the Angels have any chance of winning this game, not only will they need to break through against Lester, but they will need Lackey to limit his free passes. Otherwise, the Red Sox will more than likely take advantage of these miscues and move onto the ALCS tonight.