Chicago Cubs Gives Jon Lester Opening Day Nod

The Chicago Cubs are having what you could call a pretty good offseason. The NL Central favorites have already added the superstar of the Free Agent market by acquiring ace Yu Darvish and they preceded that by grabbing a pair of quality arms at great pricetags in Brandon Morrow and Tyler Chatwood. With all of this pitching buzz, it can make sense that veterans like Jon Lester fall a little bit under the radar. With that being said, Cubs management certainly hasn’t forgotten about their surly veteran. In fact, in a surprising move, the Cubs have decided to hand Jon Lester the starting nod for Opening Day. Is this a big deal? Let’s take a closer look.

Jon Lester has had as good of a career as any pitcher in recent memory. The hard-nosed lefty has won a trio of World Series, he’s been named an All-Star four different times and he has an NLCS MVP to his name. Oh yeah, Lester even managed to beat cancer while in the Major Leagues. The odds are pretty good that Lester will end up hanging up his cleats in the Hall of Fame when it is all said and done, but first, he has some work to do in 2018.

With the addition of Darvish and Chatwood as well as the continued excellence of guys like Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana, it would almost be impossible to really pin the #1 tag on a specific pitcher. In fact, you probably have four arms here that would be at the top of any other rotation in the Major Leagues. Last year Lester had his struggles and there were even rumors that he was feuding with Cubs management, as evidenced by a few dugout tirades when things went less-than-perfect for Lester on the mound. Still, Chicago’s decision to roll with Lester for the symbolic Opening Day start is a good one. Chicago is essentially doubling down on their faith in the veteran hurler while giving him a chance to set the tempo as a veteran leader in the clubhouse.

Chicago had watched the young Milwaukee Brewers add a few talented bats to their lineup, highlighted by the addition of Christian Yelich, and pundits immediately wondered how the Cubs would react in order to solidify their hold as NL Central favorites. Well, guess no longer. The Cubs are doubling-down on what made them great, to begin with – veteran studs like Jon Lester.