Toucher & Rich: Jon Lester Has The Yips

BOSTON (CBS) - With so much emphasis on speed and strategy in the National League, runners dare the pitchers to throw more frequently over to first and typically steal more bases.

Former Red Sox ace Jon Lester, now a member of the Chicago Cubs, is having a tough time adjusting because he just can't throw over to first base.

The throwing error below came in last night's game against Cincinnati. Watch as Jon Lester air mails the baseball way over the first baseman's head:

It's fascinating to watch world class athletes be so deficient in certain, necessary areas of their profession. Some of the best basketball players in the world can't hit free throws, some of the best golfers in the world struggle with their putting, and one of the best pitchers in the world can't throw over to first base.

This phenomenon is called "the yips," defined as the loss of fine motor skills without apparent explanation. Jon Lester most certainly has the yips, and this deficiency comes as news to a lot of fans here locally, but it's something scouts and media members have known about for awhile.

"It's something we knew about at least going back two years. In John Farrell's first season as manager, they took Lester to one of the back fields in spring training to try to get him over that. They worked with him for about fifteen minutes and gave up because every time he made a throw it was getting progressively worse," the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham told Toucher & Rich Tuesday morning.

"They just got to a point where they decided he's a pretty good pitcher and he's not going to put that many guys on base anyway, so we're not going to spend too much time with this because it's something he clearly has a problem with."

How nobody in the American League took advantage of that is a mystery to Abraham, but this throwing problem for Lester is something that could be very detrimental to his career.

"He has trouble throwing to first base. He has a lot of trouble fielding the ball when it comes back to him and throwing to second base. I always thought if a team had somebody on first base they should bunt it right at him, because odds were he was going to throw it somewhere he wasn't trying to throw it," Abraham said.

98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich also talked to Pete Abraham about Boston's home opening win, as well as other Red Sox topics.

Listen below:

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