Cubs coach Brian Butterfield is a veteran observer of Jon Lester’s long-running battles with throwing to bases.
Butterfield, who came over from the Red Sox to coach third base this season, recalled working with Lester on his throws at Red Sox camp.
“We went on field 109 where there was nobody,” Butterfield said Monday morning at Cubs camp. “He’s always been a good student of the game and has always wanted to do everything well.”
The Lester throwing issue cropped up again on Sunday when he made an error on a ball hit back to him, throwing a multiple-hop bouncer to first. The Cubs want Lester to bounce his throws instead of risking an errant toss, and he’s been working on it with Butterfield this spring.
Lester referred to it as the “Jordan-to-Pippen bounce pass,” but Butterfield said it wasn’t his line.
“I probably would’ve used McHale and Bird,” he said, referring to former Celtics stars Kevin McHale and Larry Bird.
They “tinkered” with the bounce pass in Boston, Butterfield said, and now they’re working on it again.
Butterfield said it’s more difficult for pitchers to throw to bases “because they’ve made a living out of long arm action,” namely throwing pitches off the mound.
“Jon is not alone,” he said. “He might struggle a little bit throwing short-range throws.”
But that doesn’t explain why Lester is so much worse at it than his peers.
Lester was defensive about the problem when he came to the Cubs in 2015, but now he seems to be more open in discussing what has been a recurring issue.
“One of the big things is you try not to make too big a deal out of it,” Butterfield said.
The media contingent laughed, knowing that it will be a big deal in Chicago because it hasn’t been fixed and also because it’s the Cubs.
“I know,” Butterfield said. “But any facet of the game where you start thinking about it too much, then it just might make it that much more difficult. He’s tough mentally, and whatever we do, at some point in time he’s going to be able conquer a lot of it.”
Lester said Sunday that he understands why the issue is so scrutinized, and he has never shied away from talking about it.
“I’ve never run from it,” he said. “I feel like for the most part I’ve been upfront with everything. I feel like I’ve worked my butt off to get better at things. I’ve tried to speed my delivery up. … Obviously from the outside looking in, it’s kind of like ‘Why can’t you do that?’ As I’ve said many times before, if I knew why the things (happen) obviously it wouldn’t be an issue.”
Butterfield credits Lester with admitting it’s an issue and trying to improve himself. Some other highly paid stars might rest on their laurels and point to their overall performance instead of one flaw in their game.
“The thing that I think was most pleasing about it (Sunday) was he was very upbeat after the game,” Butterfield. “Whereas maybe somebody else, or Jonny in the past as a younger pitcher, maybe he would’ve seemed bothered by it.
“But he’s fine with everything that’s going on. Whether it’s throwing the ball in the air or whether it’s skipping it, I think he’s feeling good about where he is right now going into the season. And there is still quite a ways to go.”
Twitter @PWSullivan
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