Lester wants young Cubs to play 'stupid' down stretch
Jon Lester, who knows what it takes to make the postseason and win in October when it matters most, has some surprising advice for his younger Chicago Cubs teammates on how to handle themselves during the stretch run.
"This is going to sound really bad, but I've always been a big believer in playing stupid," Lester said following a rain-shortened, 31-pitch start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. "Being naive. I've seen it with the Rays in 2008. They were naive to the situation. They had nothing to lose.
"We have nothing to lose. We're not supposed to win. We're supposedly in the rebuilding stages. If we make the playoffs, it's just an added bonus."
Lester, a two-time World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox, also said there's no point in preaching to some of the players on the club with little to no playoff experience.
"I can sit here until I'm blue in the face and talk to these guys about what to expect for the stretch run," Lester added. "I've been through it all. I've been up 10 games and went home. I've been down and we got in the playoffs. I've been ahead the whole year and did the same thing. So it doesn't matter until you do it.
"The biggest thing these guys can learn is just going through it. Whether we're there or not, you just go to go through and build on those experiences, and the next year you come out and build on that."
The Cubs haven't qualified for the postseason since 2008, and sit in the second and final National League wild-card spot heading into action Tuesday.
Lester is 6-8 with a 3.26 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 21 starts.