Quick Look at Jon Lester

With Jon Lester's very impressive year so far, I decided to take a look at his numbers and see what is making him so successful; after all, this is a player who has an era this year (3.20) that is lower then his career minor league era (3.33). So what gives?

Lester's whip is 47th best in baseball while his era is 18th. So a bit of luck has definitely helped him. Also, he has really gotten his walks under control - BB/9 2006 - 4.76, 2007 - 4.43, 2008 - 2.99.

His Babip has actually gone up a tick from last year 2006- .332, 2007-.285, 2008 -.298

So what gives? Is this luck or is this a pitcher with good stuff learning to control it? Probably a little of both, but the Lance Armstrong of baseball is due for his era to start matching his peripherals stats.

One thing of note....how does one gain velocity on the fastball AFTER cancer? 

Avg fastball speed: 2006 - 90.2; 2007 - 89.9; 2008 - 91.4