Jon Lester
P | Bats/Throws: L/L | 6' 4" 249LBS | Age: 41
Draft: 2002 | Rd: 2, #57, Boston Red Sox | Bellarmine Prep HS (Puyallup, WA)
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2019 13 10 4.46 31 31 0 171.2 165 1.50
2020 3 3 5.16 12 12 0 61 42 1.33
2021 7 6 4.71 28 28 0 141.1 91 1.51
16 Seasons 200 117 3.66 452 451 0 2,740 2,488 1.28
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2019 31 13-10 4.46 171.2 165 1.50
2020 12 3-3 5.16 61 42 1.33
2021 28 7-6 4.71 141.1 91 1.51
16 Seasons 452 200-117 3.66 2,740 2,488 1.28
MLB Percentile Rankings
Movement Profile (Induced Break)
?
▾

Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls		 Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity		 Max EV Launch
Angle		 LA Sweet-
Spot %		 XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2015 31 3185 566 25 4.4 3.0 87.1 115.0 9.5 31.3 .225 .343 .289 .277 .340 28.4 25.0 5.7 3.34 3.14
2016 32 3161 541 22 4.1 2.8 87.4 112.6 11.6 31.2 .220 .339 .264 .272 .328 29.2 24.7 6.5 2.44 3.07
2017 33 3131 519 28 5.4 3.7 86.4 111.1 10.3 34.1 .241 .392 .320 .304 .365 29.5 23.6 7.9 4.33 3.95
2018 34 3121 542 36 6.6 4.7 88.7 113.1 13.7 38.9 .267 .449 .319 .342 .393 35.4 19.6 8.4 3.32 5.06
2019 35 3043 542 40 7.4 5.2 88.6 112.2 12.2 37.1 .274 .456 .344 .336 .402 34.7 21.6 6.8 4.46 5.06
2020 36 1008 203 25 12.3 9.4 88.9 112.5 11.9 34.0 .279 .517 .333 .363 .404 38.9 15.8 6.4 5.16 5.81
2021 37 2380 478 37 7.7 5.9 88.3 116.0 10.4 33.5 .273 .453 .352 .343 .370 37.2 14.5 8.8 4.71 5.13
Player 19029 3391 213 6.3 4.4 87.8 116.0 11.3 34.3 .250 .409 .314 .314 .369 32.7 21.5 7.2
MLB 7.1 4.8 88.5 122.9 12.4 33.2 .245 .406 .316 .316 .369 36.8 22.2 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Lester relies on 5 pitches.
Four Seamer
(31.1%) ,
Cutter
(25.6%) ,
Changeup
(18.2%) ,
Sinker
(16.7%) ,
Curveball
(8.4%) ,


  • ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾

+ If Available Pitches Click to Video.


  • ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾
  •   
    ▾

Pitch Tracking



Batted Ball Profile

AIR: Fly Balls + Line Drives + Popups All Batted Balls Batted Ball Breakdown
Season GB % AIR % FB % LD % PU % Pull % Straight % Oppo % Pull GB % Straight GB % Oppo GB % Pull AIR % Straight AIR % Oppo AIR %
2015 50.5 49.5 17.0 25.6 6.9 37.3 36.0 25.6 23.0 19.1 7.8 14.3 17.0 17.8
2016 47.5 52.5 19.4 25.9 7.2 40.7 32.9 26.4 24.2 15.0 8.3 16.5 17.9 18.1
2017 47.8 52.2 20.6 26.8 4.8 34.5 40.8 24.7 19.8 20.0 7.9 14.6 20.8 16.8
2018 40.0 60.0 23.2 30.3 6.5 40.0 37.6 21.8 21.0 14.6 4.1 19.0 23.1 17.7
2019 43.9 56.1 20.7 29.9 5.5 38.7 37.6 23.6 20.3 18.5 5.2 18.5 19.2 18.5
2020 48.3 51.7 29.1 17.7 4.9 35.5 41.4 23.2 21.7 21.2 5.4 13.8 20.2 17.7
2021 44.8 55.2 25.5 24.3 5.4 35.8 41.2 23.0 16.7 21.5 6.5 19.0 19.7 16.5
Player 45.9 54.1 21.4 26.6 6.0 37.7 37.8 24.2 21.0 18.2 6.5 16.8 19.6 17.6
MLB 44.3 55.7 23.9 24.7 7.1 37.3 37.4 25.2 20.6 17.7 5.9 16.6 19.7 19.3
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Quality of Contact

Season Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel % Barrel/PA
2015 4.2 38.7 21.9 24.2 3.5 4.4 3.0
2016 3.5 36.4 23.7 23.8 4.6 4.1 2.8
2017 4.2 35.5 21.4 25.8 5.6 5.4 3.7
2018 2.2 30.3 25.3 26.2 7.2 6.6 4.7
2019 3.3 31.0 22.5 28.6 5.7 7.4 5.2
2020 4.4 33.0 22.7 22.7 4.9 12.3 9.4
2021 5.4 34.5 23.4 22.8 6.1 7.7 5.9
Player 3.8 34.3 23.0 25.1 5.4 6.3 4.4
MLB 4.0 32.5 24.9 24.4 5.9 7.1 4.8
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement

  • ▾

How this works: This section shows two different ways to evaluate pitch movement. On the left, “Total Movement” shows the real-world movement of a pitch, including the forces of gravity, which affects every pitch thrown. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren't 'better' just because they have more time to move, a pitch's movement is compared to other pitches of the same pitch type, within +/- 2 MPH and +/- 0.5 feet of extension/release. On the right, Induced Movement (or IVB) is reported without gravity, and attempts to isolate movement created by the pitcher's ability to spin and manipulate the ball.
Total Movement (in inches, w/ gravity)Induced Movement (in inches, w/o gravity)
YearPitchTeamHand#MPHVertical
Drop		vs.
Comparable		Horizontal
Break		vs.
Comparable		Vertical
Break		vs. AvgHorizontal
Break		vs. Avg
2021 Cutter STL L 610 86.4 25.8 3.6 1.8GLV -1.0 10.6 2.7 1.8GLV 0.1
2021 Curveball STL L 201 72.6 57.8 -6.5 10.3GLV -1.7 -5.8 -3.2 10.3GLV 2.6
2021 Changeup STL L 431 81.3 34.4 1.1 10.9ARM -2.6 6.7 1.1 10.9ARM -3.0
2021 Sinker STL L 398 87.6 29.1 3.2 12.3ARM -1.9 6.4 3.1 12.3ARM -2.4
2021 4-Seam Fastball STL L 739 88.7 20.0 -2.1 5.0ARM -1.9 14.8 -1.3 5.0ARM -2.6
2020 Sinker CHC L 153 88.4 27.7 2.4 13.6ARM -0.4 7.1 1.6 13.6ARM -0.9
2020 4-Seam Fastball CHC L 293 89.4 18.8 -1.2 7.1ARM 0.2 15.3 -0.7 7.1ARM -0.4
2020 Cutter CHC L 307 87.4 24.6 3.7 0.5GLV -2.0 10.9 3.3 0.5GLV -1.4
2020 Changeup CHC L 126 83.3 32.5 0.3 13.5ARM 0.2 6.6 1.2 13.5ARM -0.1
2020 Curveball CHC L 129 73.4 55.6 -7.6 10.6GLV -1.1 -4.8 -4.2 10.6GLV 2.6
! Note: Years are in reverse order.

Run Values by Pitch Type

Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit %
2021 4-Seam Fastball -1.3 -9 739 31.1 176 .338 .556 .421 16.6 14.2 13.8 .311 .522 .392 42.4
2021 Cutter -0.9 -6 610 25.6 157 .293 .536 .386 16.7 19.7 15.6 .253 .450 .340 35.1
2021 Changeup 0.5 2 432 18.2 120 .209 .300 .278 28.0 11.7 12.2 .280 .425 .334 33.0
2021 Sinker -0.9 -3 398 16.7 130 .297 .483 .367 14.6 9.2 17.6 .266 .418 .325 38.9
2021 Curveball -1.8 -4 201 8.4 39 .231 .462 .337 35.3 23.1 13.0 .205 .371 .244 30.0
2020 Cutter 1.6 5 307 30.5 98 .215 .419 .290 16.9 20.4 19.8 .258 .484 .332 37.0
2020 4-Seam Fastball -1.6 -5 293 29.1 76 .308 .631 .435 9.3 6.6 7.0 .335 .738 .478 47.5
2020 Sinker 0.7 1 153 15.2 36 .257 .286 .304 16.9 13.9 20.0 .219 .312 .243 40.0
2020 Curveball -2.1 -3 129 12.8 18 .375 .625 .458 30.0 22.2 11.1 .296 .474 .372 33.3
2020 Changeup -0.1 0 126 12.5 37 .257 .343 .334 32.4 21.6 19.5 .280 .416 .320 25.9
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.

Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2021 Changeup 429 81.3 71 12.7 11:00 9:45 75
2021 Curveball 201 72.6 66 13.7 4:00 4:15 -15
2021 Cutter 607 86.4 55 9.9 11:15 12:30 -75
2021 4-Seam Fastball 735 88.7 76 14.9 11:00 11:15 -15
2021 Sinker 394 87.6 73 13.8 11:00 9:45 75
2020 Changeup 114 83.2 80 15.1 10:45 9:45 60
2020 Curveball 122 73.4 63 13.4 4:00 4:00 0
2020 Cutter 262 87.4 59 10.0 11:15 12:15 -60
2020 4-Seam Fastball 269 89.3 82 16.3 10:45 11:00 -15
2020 Sinker 137 88.4 82 15.4 10:45 9:45 60
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
▾
! Note: This table is showing data from the PITCHER perspective.
+ View Complete Spin Direction Leaderboard

Pitcher Arm Angle

! Note: Data is available from 2020 through the present.
+ View Complete Arm Angle Leaderboard

Statcast Pitching Run Value

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2008 830 3,152 19 24 -9 -11 24
2009 835 3,377 19 40 -19 -10 29
2010 859 3,350 24 36 -15 -17 28
2011 795 3,170 10 29 -19 -15 5
2012 874 3,415 0 22 -20 -13 -12
2013 902 3,558 12 27 -26 -14 -1
2014 885 3,491 13 32 -12 -12 21
2015 826 3,182 10 35 -12 -13 20
2016 796 3,158 28 34 -14 -12 36
2017 759 3,123 -11 41 -13 -16 1
2018 753 3,108 11 32 -28 -16 -2
2019 764 3,042 -17 33 -25 -13 -21
2020 265 1,008 0 15 -9 -7 -2
2021 622 2,380 5 13 -26 -12 -20
Player 10,765 42,514 124 411 -247 124 108
+ View Complete Pitching Run Value Leaderboard
+ Show Leverage-Based Run Value

Plate Discipline

Season Pitches Zone % Zone Swing % Zone Contact % Chase % Chase Contact % Edge % 1st Pitch Strike % Swing % Whiff % Meatball % Meatball Swing %
2015 3,185 43.7 65.6 84.4 30.5 57.9 41.8 61.3 45.9 24.5 5.9 77.1
2016 3,161 46.5 67.9 84.6 29.1 56.2 42.5 63.1 47.1 24.0 6.2 73.0
2017 3,131 43.3 67.2 82.4 28.8 59.1 44.5 58.1 45.4 25.2 5.4 80.6
2018 3,121 47.4 68.1 84.6 22.7 61.8 42.0 57.4 44.3 20.3 6.7 80.8
2019 3,043 44.0 68.2 84.1 28.1 66.8 43.3 58.9 45.7 21.1 5.0 81.6
2020 1,008 44.4 67.4 88.1 25.9 67.6 40.9 58.9 44.3 18.1 6.1 82.0
2021 2,380 44.0 70.5 83.4 27.4 69.6 42.6 56.9 46.4 20.1 5.9 86.5
Player 19,029 44.8 67.8 84.2 27.8 61.7 42.7 59.4 45.7 22.4 5.9 79.7
MLB 48.8 67.0 82.1 28.4 57.6 42.7 61.1 47.3 25.0 7.3 76.3
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Percentile Rankings

Year xwOBA /
xERA 		xBA xSLG xISO xOBP Brl Brl% EV Hard
Hit% 		K% BB% Whiff% Chase
Rate 		FB
Velo 		FB
Spin 		CB
Spin 		Extension
2015 80 73 76 75 83 19 67 78 85 78 78 63 60 45 46 62 58
2016 87 81 83 79 89 32 83 78 86 75 72 56 51 43 58 64 74
2017 61 55 58 57 65 17 60 69 78 63 57 54 63 23 37 56 75
2018 14 14 14 20 20 9 45 37 48 31 46 16 4 22 47 64 69
2019 25 13 25 38 34 6 41 50 65 41 71 16 39 12 43 64 72
2020 14 14 8 10 34 1 7 38 38 9 77 4 31 7 31 55 69
2021 19 14 22 33 16 10 51 60 62 4 42 8 45 3 28 45 64
+ View Complete Percentile Rankings Leaderboard

Expected Home Runs

Adjusted
Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2016 20.75 24 18.8 5 13 9 11 45.8
2017 21.55 27 27.2 0 13 22 11 40.7
2018 22.90 24 22.9 1 14 17 9 37.5
2019 23.06 26 23.7 2 11 15 11 42.3
2020 22.46 11 9.2 2 7 6 4 36.4
2021 22.90 25 23.3 2 10 16 11 44.0
Player 22.26 137 125.1 12 68 85 57 41.6
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
+ View Standard Expected Home Runs

Expected Home Runs by Park

Adjusted
Year HR
2016 24 21 17 19 19 16 20 17 16 15 18 23 18 16 16 19 14 16 22 19 19 21 23 24 16 16 18 25 23 20 17
2017 27 27 21 28 31 27 33 27 24 19 29 36 22 25 28 27 22 25 29 29 27 28 34 30 24 23 25 35 30 28 22
2018 24 28 22 20 23 24 27 22 20 20 24 30 23 21 23 22 22 19 22 27 24 20 28 25 21 18 21 25 24 23 19
2019 26 28 20 22 25 24 29 24 19 16 22 26 27 24 22 22 21 19 25 27 25 27 26 29 23 20 21 30 31 22 15
2020 11 10 11 10 8 10 11 8 6 6 6 11 9 9 9 9 8 9 10 10 11 12 12 9 8 7 10 10 11 9 8
2021 25 31 22 18 25 20 27 22 18 15 17 24 19 19 21 30 19 20 27 23 22 31 30 30 18 21 29 25 25 25 26
Player 137 145 113 117 131 121 147 120 103 91 116 150 118 114 119 129 106 108 135 135 128 139 153 147 110 105 124 150 144 127 107
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
+ View Standard Expected Home Runs By Park
+ View Complete Expected Home Runs Leaderboard

Year to Year Changes

Metric 2015 +/-   2016 +/-   2017 +/-   2018 +/-   2019 +/-   2020 +/-   2021
Fastball Velocity 91.2 0.5 ↑ 91.7 -1.8 ↓ 89.9 0.1 ↑ 90.0 -0.9 ↓ 89.1 -0.7 ↓ 88.4 -0.8 ↓ 87.6
Offspeed Velocity 85.1 0.3 ↑ 85.4 -0.8 ↓ 84.6 0.3 ↑ 84.9 -0.6 ↓ 84.3 -1.0 ↓ 83.3 -2.0 ↓ 81.3
Breaking Velocity 75.5 -0.5 ↓ 75.0 0.6 ↑ 75.6 -0.8 ↓ 74.8 -0.3 ↓ 74.5 -1.1 ↓ 73.4 -0.8 ↓ 72.6
Exit Velocity 87.1 0.3 ↑ 87.4 -1.0 ↓ 86.4 2.3 ↑ 88.7 -0.1 ↓ 88.6 0.3 ↑ 88.9 -0.6 ↓ 88.3
Launch Angle 9.5 2.1 ↑ 11.6 -1.3 ↓ 10.3 3.4 ↑ 13.7 -1.5 ↓ 12.2 -0.3 ↓ 11.9 -1.5 ↓ 10.4
Barrel % 4.4 -0.3 ↓ 4.1 1.3 ↑ 5.4 1.2 ↑ 6.6 0.8 ↑ 7.4 4.9 ↑ 12.3 -4.6 ↓ 7.7
Hard Hit % 28.4 0.8 ↑ 29.2 0.3 ↑ 29.5 5.9 ↑ 35.4 -0.7 ↓ 34.7 4.2 ↑ 38.9 -1.7 ↓ 37.2
LA Sweet-Spot % 31.3 -0.1 ↓ 31.2 2.9 ↑ 34.1 4.8 ↑ 38.9 -1.8 ↓ 37.1 -3.1 ↓ 34.0 -0.5 ↓ 33.5
xBA .225 -0.005 ↓ .220 0.021 ↑ .241 0.026 ↑ .267 0.007 ↑ .274 0.005 ↑ .279 -0.006 ↓ .273
BA .240 -0.029 ↓ .211 0.048 ↑ .259 -0.003 ↓ .256 0.038 ↑ .294 -0.032 ↓ .262 0.023 ↑ .285
xwOBA .277 -0.005 ↓ .272 0.032 ↑ .304 0.038 ↑ .342 -0.006 ↓ .336 0.027 ↑ .363 -0.020 ↓ .343
wOBA .289 -0.025 ↓ .264 0.056 ↑ .320 -0.001 ↓ .319 0.025 ↑ .344 -0.011 ↓ .333 0.019 ↑ .352
xSLG .343 -0.004 ↓ .339 0.053 ↑ .392 0.057 ↑ .449 0.007 ↑ .456 0.061 ↑ .517 -0.064 ↓ .453
SLG .373 -0.039 ↓ .334 0.096 ↑ .430 -0.020 ↓ .410 0.060 ↑ .470 -0.011 ↓ .459 0.019 ↑ .478
K% 25.0 -0.3 ↓ 24.7 -1.1 ↓ 23.6 -4.0 ↓ 19.6 2.0 ↑ 21.6 -5.8 ↓ 15.8 -1.3 ↓ 14.5
BB% 5.7 0.8 ↑ 6.5 1.4 ↑ 7.9 0.5 ↑ 8.4 -1.6 ↓ 6.8 -0.4 ↓ 6.4 2.4 ↑ 8.8
Swing % 45.9 1.2 ↑ 47.1 -1.7 ↓ 45.4 -1.1 ↓ 44.3 1.4 ↑ 45.7 -1.4 ↓ 44.3 2.1 ↑ 46.4
Whiff% 24.5 -0.5 ↓ 24.0 1.2 ↑ 25.2 -4.9 ↓ 20.3 0.8 ↑ 21.1 -3.0 ↓ 18.1 2.0 ↑ 20.1
In Zone % 43.7 2.8 ↑ 46.5 -3.2 ↓ 43.3 4.1 ↑ 47.4 -3.4 ↓ 44.0 0.4 ↑ 44.4 -0.4 ↓ 44.0
Out of Zone % 56.3 -2.8 ↓ 53.5 3.2 ↑ 56.7 -4.1 ↓ 52.6 3.4 ↑ 56.0 -0.4 ↓ 55.6 0.4 ↑ 56.0
Out of Zone Swing % 30.5 -1.4 ↓ 29.1 -0.3 ↓ 28.8 -6.1 ↓ 22.7 5.4 ↑ 28.1 -2.2 ↓ 25.9 1.5 ↑ 27.4
First Pitch Swing % 28.2 2.5 ↑ 30.7 -4.4 ↓ 26.3 -2.1 ↓ 24.2 3.4 ↑ 27.6 -1.9 ↓ 25.7 3.5 ↑ 29.2
First Pitch Strike % 61.3 1.8 ↑ 63.1 -5.0 ↓ 58.1 -0.7 ↓ 57.4 1.5 ↑ 58.9 0.0 58.9 -2.0 ↓ 56.9
+ View Complete Year to Year Changes Leaderboard

Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2016 Shifts 777 .261 600 16 2.7 177 6 3.4
2017 Shifts 758 .320 589 1 0.2 169 4 2.4
2018 Shifts 756 .321 600 30 5.0 156 5 3.2
2019 Shifts 764 .344 588 47 8.0 176 29 16.5
2020 Shifts 265 .333 232 47 20.3 33 16 48.5
2021 Shifts 622 .352 492 79 16.1 130 35 26.9
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field.
Learn more about how positioning is defined here

Pitch Tempo

Bases EmptyRunners On Base
SeasonTeamPitchesTempoFast %Slow %PitchesTempoFast %Slow %
2010 1020 17.0 24.2% 2.5% 551 24.0 0.4% 12.7%
2011 891 17.7 17.8% 2.7% 510 25.5 0.0% 16.5%
2012 958 16.5 31.8% 1.4% 605 24.6 0.3% 12.2%
2013 1002 16.1 37.3% 1.2% 636 23.8 0.8% 9.9%
2014 1061 16.6 31.0% 2.0% 574 22.7 0.0% 10.3%
2015 953 17.6 28.9% 4.5% 535 24.1 3.4% 23.0%
2016 1017 18.0 24.4% 4.8% 444 24.3 1.6% 25.7%
2017 974 15.9 40.7% 1.0% 501 22.8 0.2% 8.0%
2018 974 16.3 35.1% 0.7% 536 22.0 0.7% 10.4%
2019 854 17.0 28.3% 1.4% 577 23.7 0.0% 8.3%
2020 303 16.7 31.4% 0.7% 187 23.4 0.0% 6.4%
2021 706 16.6 30.9% 1.4% 414 23.5 0.2% 11.6%

+ View Complete Pitch Tempo Leaderboard

Pitch Distribution

  • ▾