5. Jon Lester hits first Major League home run
Jon Lester knocked one off the bucket list last season; he recorded his first MLB hit against now-teammate and close friend John Lackey. Now he will hit his first MLB home run, a feat he maybe got the hang of in spring training agains the Colorado Rockies last Wednesday. Even skipper Joe Maddon expects big hits out of the career .041 hitter, per ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers.
Said Maddon:
“I was saying all last year that he has a great swing, and I’m going to stand by it. [The home run] didn’t surprise me. He’s going to get more hits this year. He can swing the bat.”
Well, of course he’s paid to pitch, and to be fair, 2015 was his first season in the National League, where he recorded 62 at-bats. He had 36 the nine previous seasons combined in the AL. Ironically, he recorded his one and only RBI in 2010 with the Boston Red Sox.
With the line-up the Cubs boast, and the wind flying out of Wrigley one of these days, why couldn’t it happen? After all, while Lester fell into the Major League record for most hit-less at-bats (66) to start a career, he recorded three in the final month of the season, including three of the four against the rival Cardinals.
