Curves Ahead: Should Jon Lester Visit His Uncle Charlie More Often?

With one out in the bottom of the 1st Wednesday night, Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada saw five straight Jon Lester fastballs to open his at-bat. Tejada took the first two for balls, then fell to an even count after a couple of fouls and a whiff. Then Lester brought a cutter that Tejada battled off. It was all just a setup for the curve that rolled up at 77 mph, 11 ticks below any of the previous pitches. The hitter didn’t stand a chance.

In all, four Mets fell victim to Lester’s bender, leading Len Kasper to remark at one point during the broadcast about the high swing-and-miss rate of the pitch and the fact that Joe Maddon has been trying to get his lefty ace to use it more often. Sure enough,…