Explaining why Jon Lester is so awful at the plate

When he is at his best, Jon Lester is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. At the plate, however, it’s a very different story. Lester is, almost without argument, the worst hitter in Major League Baseball.

In his first season in the National League, Lester set the record for most at-bats without a base hit. Lester went an astonishing 0-66 before recording his first hit. Lester finished the season with four hits, making him 4-98 on his career, with a batting average of .048.

Lester’s struggles, supposedly, aren’t just because he is incredibly awful at the plate. According to MLB.com analyst Mike Petriello, Lester is flat out swinging too hard.

Now that is an explanation Cubs fans can get behind. Just ease up on the swing a bit and maybe upper-cut just a little and Lester will be hitting ropes.

Petriello isn’t the first to say that Lester is just a few changes away from being a better hitter. During his epic hit-less streak, both ESPN analyst Buster Olney and Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper said they believed Lester was close to being a real player at the plate.

Of course, Cubs fans would probably be happy with Lester’s struggles at the plate as long as he is pitching well. They would be even happier if MLB took the bat out of his hand for good.