National southpaw Jon Lester will undergo surgery to remove the thyroid gland on Friday, announced businessman Dave Martinez (link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). Assuming everything goes smoothly, the surgery should only keep you out of action for about a week, added the manager.
Lester, 37, has dealt with fatigue early in the camp. After a few consultations with medical experts and a list of tests, he opted to have the surgery this week in the hope that she will avoid further symptoms during the 2021 season. He is traveling to New York today.
Lester signed a $ 5 million one-year contract with the Nationals over the winter, setting the stage for him to slide back Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. The contract brings him together with Martinez, who was his bank trainer in Chicago in 2015-17, and with his hired colleague as a free agent Kyle Schwarber.
In 2006, during his debut year at the Red Sox, Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma and was away for almost a year while undergoing chemotherapy. Since he went into remission and returned to the mountain, he is among the most durable beginners in the game. The five-time All-Star made at least 31 games per season over a 12-year period from 2008-19, averaging 199 entries per season. Along the way, he also kicked 144 2/3 ERA 2.55 ball entries in the postseason and took home NLCS MVP honors in 2016. During last year’s shortened season, he started a dozen games.
Although Lester is not at his peak, his status as one of the game’s most trusted innings sources makes him very attractive to a national club that needed a constant presence behind one of the top three. Lester struggled to reach an ERA of 5.16 last summer, but also posted his lowest percentage of walking and highest ball rate on the ground since 2015. A clearer schedule for the southpaw will be known after the procedure, but the initial forecast of that he can get back to work after just a week, obviously bodes well for Lester and the Nats.