Jon Lester named National League Pitcher of the Month for June

Jon Lester has been solid-to-excellent all season, and he stepped up his game in June. He started five games, the Cubs won all of them (and Jon got the personal “W”, for whatever that’s worth) and he posted a 1.13 ERA and 0.844 WHIP in 32 innings and allowed just two home runs for the month.

Monday, MLB honored Jon with the June National League Pitcher of the Month award. For Jon, it’s his second such award with the Cubs, as he also won it in September 2016. He also was named American League Pitcher of the Month twice while with the Red Sox (July 2008, May 2010).

Lester is having a good year overall, with a 2.25 ERA and 2.7 bWAR. Some of his peripherals aren’t great — he’s got a 4.16 FIP and his K rate is down from 9.0 last year to 7.1 this year.

But all in all, Lester is doing what’s important, getting outs and helping his team win. The Cubs are 14-3 in games started by Lester so far this year.

Congratulations to Jon on this award, and hoping there might be more to come for him, and for the team, in 2018.