Quote:
Originally Posted by Cannon Shell
Really? 2008-2011 he was one of the best 15 starters in baseball (probably top 10). Being that there are 30 teams that would make him not only a number 1 starter but one of the top number 1 starters. Compare his numbers to Cole Hamels who just got $165 million dollar contract. Lester is having a BAD year, no doubt. His he is allowing way more hits, HR's and BB's than he ever has and is striking out fewer which is a disturbing trend. However a young pitcher with an established track record that suddenly has a bad year is almost always a physical issue that they may or may not reveal.
Your statement is absolutely not correct. He was unquestionably a number 1 starter from the time he became a rotation regular in 2008 and this year he is unquestionably barely a number 5 starter based on his production or lack of it.
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A lot of teams don't have a number one starter and a couple of teams have more than one guy who could qualify. When you play for a perennial playoff team like the red sox, what would qualify as a number one guy is different than what would qualify in kc. Is that fair to say?
Either way, here are a few guys that I think have been better over the last few years:
Sabathia
King Felix
Verlander
Lincecum
Cliff lee
Kershaw
Weaver
Halliday
Matt Cain
Chris carpenter
David price
Wainwright
And there a few more where a serious debate can be made.
I think Lester is a talented pitcher but do you really want that guy out there game 7? Being that there are only 8 playoff teams (10 now) Boston was hoping for him to be with the group above. In my opinion, he hasn't been as good. He gets the stats and he's won games but he hasn't delivered the way they needed him and that is a big reason they have disappointed so much over the last few years.