It developed into a great situation

Sox think Lester will come up aces

ANAHEIM, Calif. - In the great reconstruction of the Red Sox, during the transition from self-fulfilling doubt to prevailing optimism, Jon Lester stands out like an oldest child. The blossoming lefthander was the first seed planted by these Red Sox, the very first draft pick in the booming John Henry era.

In that way, maybe it is only fitting that the Red Sox line up behind him tonight as they begin defense of their world title against John Lackey and the Los Angeles Angels in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

"It's easy for us as scouts to say when we're right, but we misjudge kids so much," said David Chadd, the Detroit Tigers' vice president for amateur scouting who oversaw the Boston operation when the club selected Lester with its first pick (second round) of the 2002 draft. "But with Jon, everything worked too good [for him to fail]. His delivery was too good and his arm action was too good.

"When you find kids with that kind of talent, that kind of drive and focus - and there are only a few, I was involved with Josh Beckett with the Marlins - those kids are focused and do everything they can to get better. And that's Jon Lester."

More than six years have passed since the Red Sox grabbed Lester with the 57th overall selection, and now, as then, they were fortunate to have him. When Josh Beckett strained his right oblique last Friday at Fenway Park, the Red Sox promptly swapped Beckett for Lester as if they were merely rotating tires. For Lester, the move was lateral more than vertical; during the regular season, after all, he established himself as a front wheel on the club's 2008 edition.

Over the last five months, in fact, Lester pitched as well as any starter in baseball save CC Sabathia. Since May 4, Lester went 15-4 with a 2.82 ERA while averaging just shy of seven innings per start, becoming the kind of dominating presence the Red Sox believed he would someday become.

Games 1 and 4 are currently entrusted to Lester. Ultimately, Beckett's inability to pitch until Game 3 means one more outing than expected for Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose 2008 campaign (18-3, 2.90 ERA) has been nothing short of a statistical anomaly.

But as far as sending Lester to the mound tonight, the Red Sox are fine with it.

And then some.

"I think we're all looking forward to Jon Lester maybe making his time. He's been so good the last four months of the year, this is an exciting time," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said earlier this week. "We love what Beckett can do and we respect what Beckett can do. We're starting to get that feeling about Lester."

Given the particulars, that is hardly surprising.

Last year, while the Sox were striding toward their second world title in four seasons, Francona spoke at great length about the development on young Red Sox pitchers like Lester and Clay Buchholz, the latter of whom had recently thrown a no-hitter. Francona went out of his way to acknowledge the example being set by Beckett, who was young enough to speak with Lester as a peer, accomplished enough to teach him as a mentor.

Now, like Beckett, Lester is becoming known for a relentless work ethic and a fierce competitiveness. And Chadd's words are coming to life in the Boston clubhouse.

When you find kids with that kid of talent, that kind of drive and focus, those kids are focused and do everything they can to get better.

"He's definitely a guy, when I got called up, I wanted to model myself after," Lester said of Beckett. "He's always in the weight room busting his butt, making sure he's on time. He's definitely a guy you look up to. There's a reason he pitches 200 innings a year and competes and wins a lot of games. So I try to follow his lead and go from there."

In the process, the apprentice did the darnedest thing.

He grew into a leader himself.

Six years ago, with the Red Sox having forfeited a first-round draft pick to Oakland as compensation for the free agent signing of Johnny Damon - the A's, with the 16th selection, snapped up Nick Swisher - Chadd believed the club's chances of acquiring Lester were remote at best. Boston's first selection was in the second round, and Lester was, according to Chadd, "identified as one of those kids who more than likely wasn't going to be there when we selected."

The Red Sox grew more hopeful when Lester's performance slipped some late in the season during Lester's senior year at Bellarmine High in Tacoma, Wash., so he made a trip to see Lester pitch.

When he got there, Chadd saw a relatively polished young pitcher built to last and who was, on top of it all, lefthanded.

"I flew out to Seattle and saw him pitch a heck of a game, and I was more convinced than ever that he wouldn't be there with our pick - a 6-foot-4 lefthander with that kind of delivery?" Chadd said with disbelief. "It was an easy selection because of the attributes he showed at the time."

Funny thing.

For the Red Sox, Lester is an easy selection now for the very same reasons.

Tony Massarotti can be reached at tmassarotti@globe.com and can be read at www.boston.com/massarotti.