The Good And Bad News From Jon Lester's Injury

The home opener for the Cubs was almost perfect. The Cubs arrived back to Chicago after a brutal 2-7 start on the road that featured some bad defense and the worst bullpen in baseball. But on Monday it was nothing but good vibes, as the weather was great at Wrigley Field and the Cubs shutout the Pirates 10-0.

The Cubs bullpen even pitched seven shutout innings, extending its scoreless streak to 12 innings dating back to the ninth inning of Saturday's game in Milwaukee. Yet, Monday's 10-0 win was obviously a nine-inning game and you don't want your bullpen pitching seven innings. The reason for it isn't good either, as Jon Lester was taken out after giving up two hits to begin the third inning.

That came after Lester started a six-run rally in the second inning, when he lined an RBI-double. He slid in safely at second base and then came around to score on a two-run single by Ben Zobrist. However, that trip around the bases yielded a negative consequence.

Lester was forced to leave early from his third start of the season because of tightness in his left hamstring.

Hamstring injuries can be extremely tricky.

Last year, Pedro Strop missed the final three weeks of the season with a hamstring strain and was in extreme pain when he returned to pitch in the Wild Card Game against the Rockies. Strop had another hamstring injury this past spring training, but it was minor, forcing him to miss a week or so before he resumed throwing.

The good news is that Lester doesn't believe his injury is serious, saying he didn't hear a pop or anything like that when he tweaked his hamstring.

Cubs fans shouldn't expect any other answer from Lester. Have to love the attitude, but as he said after an MRI, the Cubs will be more certain about their next move.

However, even if the MRI shows nothing serious, the bad news is that Lester will probably miss at least one start regardless.

At this point, Lester's status for his next scheduled start on Sunday against the Angels is unclear.

But again, Joe Maddon did make it seem like Lester will miss at least one start.

Via MLB.com.

"When you go in an MRI tube, normally it's going to delay things a bit coming back," Maddon said. "So we'll have to figure out who's going to start next."

As far as who would fill in for Lester, it would most likely be...Tyler Chatwood.

DON'T PANIC! It's most likely nothing serious and at most Lester will only miss one start. We will survive this! Hopefully.

Lester was pretty consistent in his first two starts this season, pitching six innings against the Rangers and Braves. He left the Atlanta game with a lead and saw the Cubs bullpen blow it late. Lester was sharp again on Monday against the Pirates, working the edges, as the home plate umpire had a pitcher-friendly strike zone. He struck out four batters in the first two innings before he got injured.

So, right now it sounds like the best case scenario is that Lester only misses one start. Not great, not bad, but it could have been a lot worse.