Major League Baseball starting pitcher Jon Lester of Tacoma, WA announced his retirement at age 38 on Wednesday according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Lester was a five-time All-Star, won three World Series titles, and is one of 119 Major League Baseball pitchers all-time to record 200 wins.
Lester pitched 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 2006 to 2021 with the Boston Celtics, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. In 2740 innings pitched, he had a record of 200 wins and 117 losses, with an earned run average of 3.66. In 452 games, Lester pitched 15 complete games, had four shutouts, and 2488 strikeouts, with a WHIP of 1.28. He also gave up 2610 hits, 1114 earned runs, and 892 walks.
In 2021, Lester shared his time with the Nationals and Cardinals. He had a record of seven wins and six losses for an earned run average of 4.71. In 28 games and 141 1/3 innings pitched, he gave up 159 hits, 74 earned runs and 55 walks, along with 91 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.51. Lester was much more effective with the Cardinals than the Nationals in 2021. With St. Louis, he had a record of four wins and one loss with an earned run average of 4.36. With the Nationals, Lester had a record of three wins and five losses for an earned run average of 5.02.
Despite never winning a Cy Young Award in his career, Lester had several productive seasons. One of his best came in 2018 with the Cubs when he led the National League in wins with 18. Lester also led the American League with the most strikeouts per nine innings (9.7) while with the Red Sox in 2010.
However it is in the postseason where Lester delivered with excellence. He won three World Series–2007 and 2013 with the Red Sox and 2016 with the Cubs. Lester was also the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player with the Cubs in 2016. In six World Series games, Lester had a record of four wins and one loss with a stingy earned run average of 1.77.
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