The count is in Lester's favor

By Chris Snow, Globe Staff  |  May 26, 2006

Jon Lester pitched four times in April with the following pitch counts: 59, 60, 65, 59. He was 0-4 with a 6.94 ERA (11 2/3 IP, 9 ER).

Lester, with the training wheels off, has pitched five times in May with these pitch counts: 81, 69, 76, 92, 84. His results: 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA (25 2/3 IP, 5 ER).

``It was hard at the beginning of the year, I couldn't really get in a rhythm," the 22-year-old Lester said by phone yesterday. ``By the time I got ready to go, I got taken out of the game. It's hard for me to get through three innings on 60 pitches.

``I'd just throw a lot of fastballs. I had to pitch to contact a little more. I couldn't really pitch to set guys up."

The rationale behind the low pitch limits? Was it to keep his innings low in case he's called upon in July, August, or September to join the Red Sox rotation?

``Yeah, that's what they told me," he said. ``They didn't say for sure if it was going to happen. They said, `We want you to have a fresh body and fresh arm for when that does happen.' It's a light at the end of the tunnel."

That light should be shining a little brighter today than a couple months ago. Lester, in his first big league camp, went 0-2 with a 19.50 ERA, allowing 13 runs on 12 hits in six innings. When he was reassigned to minor league camp in mid-March, the Sox had seven starters: Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett, Matt Clement, David Wells, Bronson Arroyo, and Jonathan Papelbon. But Arroyo's in Cincinnati and Papelbon's in the bullpen. Clement has a 6.01 ERA since last season's All-Star break. And Wells, who hasn't pitched since April 12, is no guarantee to stay healthy, even though he returns to the rotation tonight. So there could be an opportunity for Lester this summer.

The Eastern League Pitcher of the Year last year with Double A Portland, Lester led that league in ERA (2.61) and strikeouts (163). This year, he's found Triple A hitters more patient, though that hasn't meant they've been successful. Lefthanders are hitting just .120 (3 for 25) off him, righthanders .254 (30 for 118).

Lester said he also continues to make adjustments with his approach. A self-acknowledged perfectionist, he's working on ``not being so fine, getting ahead of guys early. I've got to get my percentage of strikes up a little more than it is now, going after guys."

Does he know his breakdown of balls and strikes?

``Yesterday I would have been able to tell you," he said. ``I figured it out, I had it written down. I wanted to know where I was at just to see what I need to work on."

The numbers: 645 pitches, 386 strikes. That's 60 percent. Some better numbers: With runners on base, opponents are hitting .194 (13 for 67). And with runners in scoring position, opponents are batting .095 (4 for 42).

Other good numbers: 7 and 95. That's the number of innings and/or pitches he's allowed in his starts.

``It's normal," Lester said. ``Now, having the freedom to go six or seven is a lot easier. I can actually pitch my game instead of just trying to get guys to make outs."

Pawtucket began last night homerless in 13 of its last 15 games, emblematic of the overall lack of power in the Red Sox system. The PawSox entered last night tied for 11th among 15 teams in the International League in homers with 27 in 45 games. Double A Portland began the night 11th of 12 teams in the Eastern League with 22 homers in 42 games. Only six players between Pawtucket and Portland have more than two homers: Pawtucket's Jeff Bailey (8), Hee Seop Choi (4), and Alejandro Machado (3), and Portland's Luis Antonio Jimenez (5), David Murphy (3), and Brandon Moss (3) . . . Choi hit his fourth homer Sunday, after going homerless in 80 at-bats. After beginning the season hitting .313, he went into last night 11 for his last 52 to fall to .269 . . . Jose Lima pitches Tuesday night at McCoy Stadium for Norfolk (the Mets' top affiliate) . . . Dustin Pedroia, who recently endured a 3-for-27 stretch, and Adam Stern, who struggled through a 3-for-23, each went into last night with five hits in their last 11 at-bats.

Righthanded reliever Edgar Martinez should be close to earning a promotion. In 16 games at Double A Portland, the converted catcher is 1-0 with a 1.14 ERA, 24 strikeouts, and 5 walks in 23 2/3 innings. Martinez, who has been pitching only since the summer of 2004, could appear in the Sox pen by season's end. The 24-year-old, in 68 appearances between Single A and Double A, is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA (86 innings, 15 runs), fanning 88 and walking just 29 . . . Another player pushing for a promotion: Jacoby Ellsbury. The Sox' top pick in last June's draft, who hit .317 with a .418 on-base percentage and 23 steals in short-season Lowell last year, is hitting .321 with a .402 OBP and .481 slugging percentage with Single A Wilmington. However, he's played in only 20 games because of an injured quad that has since healed. According to Mike Hazen, the Sox' director of player development, ``At this point, we want him to continue to compete in Wilmington. No decisions have been made on his future."