Cubs give Opening Day start to Lester

[March 05, 2019]    The Chicago Cubs officially named Jon Lester as their Opening Day starter on Monday, marking the fourth time in the left-hander's five-year tenure with the club that he has started the first game of the season.

Lester, 35, was 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA over 32 starts with the Cubs last season. His win total was tied for the National League lead with Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals.

In four seasons with the Cubs, Lester is 61-31 with a 3.33 ERA. He has started 32 games in each of those seasons, and the Cubs have gone to the postseason each year since Lester joined the team.

The only season Lester hasn't started Opening Day for the Cubs was 2016 when Jake Arrieta got the nod after winning the Cy Young Award the previous season. It will be Lester's eighth Opening Day start overall after getting the honor four times as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

"I've been fortunate enough to do this a few times," Lester told reporters at Cubs spring training camp Monday morning. "To be entrusted with that a couple times, here and other places, it's just a huge honor to have that on your shoulders and try to get your team off to a good start."

The Cubs are scheduled to open the regular season March 28 at Texas.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.