The Chicago Cubs are rolling once again. Winners of four straight and 11 of their last 13, the 2018 Cubs seemed to have finally arrived. After playing .500 ball the first two months of the season, their offense has finally woken up and the pitching staff now leads the league with nine shutouts.
That staff is led yet again by future 2018 All-Star, Jon Lester.
The Cubs defeated the Pirates 2-0 at Wrigley Field today behind another solid outing from Lester. The big lefty went seven innings, allowing one hit and collected the win which upped his record to 7-2 this season. More importantly, in my opinion, is today's outing lowered Lester's ERA to a measly 2.22 for the season.
The win today was Lester's 50th as a Cub and he has been everything the Cubs envisioned when they signed him in December of 2014. He's eaten up over 665 innings or work during his time and has consistently given the Cubs quality start after quality start.
Today's win over Pittsburgh was no different. On top of dominating the Pirates from the mound, Lester had the opportunity to bust out his patented "bounce pass" to throw a runner out at first base.
I'm sorry but this will forever be hilarious to me.
As they've done all season, the bullpen came in to relieve Lester and closed the door on the Pirates offense. Following the game, Lester shared his thoughts on the 2018 team and if this doesn't fire you up as a Cubs fan, I don't know what else you need.
Let's. F*cking. Go. Every Cubs fan remembers the magical ride of the 2016 season (and the disappointing 2017 season) so to hear Lester say that this year's team is back to the 2016 mindset is everything I needed to hear. Even before Lester's comments, I felt like this year's team was very reminiscent of the 2016 team. The "target" is now off their back and the pressure to repeat has gone by the wayside. Now they can get back to having fun and playing baseball and if you've watched any of this season, the team just looks much more relaxed.
With a little over 100 games remaining in the season, there is still a long ways to go. They have to get healthy, keep the bullpen fresh, and continue to improve on situational hitting which is something I'm fully confident they will do. It also helps that the undisputed leader of the pitching staff has now reassured fans that the team is back in the championship mindset and 2017 is just an after thought. I know Lester is one of the leaders in the clubhouse, so with his post game comments today, I have to believe that the Cubs have gotten that 2016 swagger back which means the rest of the season is shaping up to be quite the ride.
