Just saw this on Extra Bases. The Red Sox have called up Jon Lester to start tomorrow’s game against the Cleveland Indians. Julian Tavarez will go to the bullpen. The Red Sox will make a roster move after the game and the speculation is Javier Lopez will be sent back to Pawtucket after the game since he has minor league options left.
“We want to win games so bad,” Francona said, “but I can’t say there won’t be some emotion involved when he gets to take the mound. I think his folks are going to be there, which I’m sure for them will be extra special.
“I think talking to Jon, he just wants to win the game. I think he’s got that attitude, he’s already been through this enough and answered the questions, I’m sure he’ll have to answer them again, but he just wants to win baseball games. He’s pretty refreshing, pretty remarkable for a kid that age.”
What went into the decision to summon him back?
“So much did,” Francona said. “We’ve been staying up on this kid, I think it’s pretty evident, all year. Where we thought he was, what needed to happen, what’s best for him, what’s best for us. I think we got to a point where we thought this might be in his best interest and ours.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he does. We’re excited. We’ve had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, trying to do the right thing.”
Francona was asked if it was tough to separate the baseball from the emotion during the process.
“No, it wasn’t, we didn’t let it be, ever, or he would have been here three months ago. We never let that get away of our decisions. I wouldn’t apologize to be crazy about a kid like Lester. I would be crazy not to. We don’t ever let that get in the way of making decisions.”
This is a huge step for Lester who just under a year ago was diagnosed with cancer. I am sure it will be an emotional night for Lester but it will be very nice to see him back in Boston with the boys.
To quote Borat. “Nice”. I hope he rocks tomorrow.
To quote Ali G, BOOYAKASHA!
This is a great call up and Lester deserves it. I’m thrilled to see him back at the major league level. Hopefully he can be productive again. He has great potential and is already probably going to be more productive than Tavarez. Great move Sox and hopefully the winning streak will continue in an extremely difficult 4-game set @ Cleveland.
The whole thing is interesting to me as I would have to think the Red Sox were hoping to remove Tavarez from the rotation when Schill comes back. They’ve said all along they would only bring up Lester if he was ready to help for the rest of the season. Which brings me to who goes when Schill comes back. Gabbard has already proved he belongs and your not getting rid of anyone else in the rotation. So does it come down how good Lester pitches in his two starts. We all know what he’s capable of by his numbers from last season. The biggest thing will be how he responds to all this.
I do think it’s a great story though. If he doesn’t want to be a hero, he will be an inspiration to a lot of people just like Papelbon said after the game.
I think Gabbard may go to the bullpen and they can send down Lopez. Or maybe they just send Gabbard back to Pawtucket knowing what they have for either a trade or down the line in Boston.
A rumor I heard was Lester or Gabbard being dealt to Florida in a package for Miguel Cabrera. I’d hate to see one of them go but for Miguel Cabrera I’d pack their bags.
Either way I don’t think the front office is concerned because they’d rather have this problem than have the one the Yanks went through.
Congratulations on passing 400 comments. Maybe you will get to 756 before Barry does.
I highly doubt you will see the Red Sox move Lester at all. If anyone I’d have to think it would be Gabbard only because you’ve never really heard his name mentioned in the future plans. It’s always been Lester, Ellsbury and Buchholz.
As much as I would love Lester/Gabbard in a Fish uniform their is no way that kind of package gets a deal done for Cabrera. Either way you guys are set at pitching for a while now as the Beckett deal is working out nicely both ways.