With less than a week until pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report for spring training, several Red Sox players have already touched down in Fort Myers. Included in that group is team ace Jon Lester, who arrived early to get a head start on his workouts. On Monday, Lester tweeted a "pretty awesome" picture of the Sox' brand new JetBlue Park. Check it out below...

Lester’s numbers from 2011 were down, but even before then, his best season was in 2010 when he was 19-9 with 225 strikeouts, a 3.25 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and .220 OBA. Those numbers weren’t even top-five worthy for 2011, so thinking that he could finish as a top five starting pitcher in 2012 just might be a pipe dream. Here are Lester’s stats for the last four years: &...

Spring Training hasn't even started, but the Globe's Peter Abraham has a report on the Sox who have showed up early to JetBlue Park, including Adrian Gonzalez, Jon Lester (who posted on Twitter the image you see to the right, Daniel Bard, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Abraham notes that Bard has been hard at work early on to help build up his endurance: Bard threw in the bullpen...

Jon Lester has always been considered among the accountable ones on the Red Sox. Though he was named as one of the fried chicken-and-beer trio, Lester was among the first players to address the situation back in October. And now he is in camp, working hard, looking lean, and excited about the coming season.

A few Sox have headed down to Florida early to get a jump-start on Spring Training. The Globe's Pete Abe is in sunny Ft. Myers with the info: There are 15 players or so on the field stretching before a workout. The group includes Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka (who has sort of orange hair), Andrew Miller, Rich Hill and Nate Spears. Lester threw in the bullpen for the second...

It's the story that will never die! After John Henry took it upon himself to storm 98.5 The Sports Hub on Friday, Jon Lester spoke to the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham and told his side of the story: "There's a perception out there that we were up there getting hammered and that wasn't the case," Lester told The Globe via telephone from his home in Georgia...

Jon Lester (credits below) The 2012 Red Sox starting rotation is full of question marks and will most likely be undecided until late into spring training in March. If Clay Buchholz can remain healthy and the back end shapes up with Aaron Cook, Andrew Miller and a healthy Dice K, this staff could have plenty of sleeper potential. Keep an eye on the Red Sox situation this spring as...

Last December I wrote a piece comparing the striking similarity to Jordan Zimmermann and Jon Lester's career paths. While Lester is a lefty (Zimmermann is a righty), and Zimmermann is one year older than the Red Sox hurler, the two both have similar approaches to the game, and both were forced to regain their prospect status after a major medical set back. This is the comparison...

With September’s brutal collapse still lingering like a gray cloud, the Boston Red Sox are doing their level best to move on.  The team lost both Terry Francona and Theo Epstein last month; their former Boy Wonder GM is now President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs while Tito has yet to land a new gig as skipper. Boston is stil waiting on compensation for the departed...

In 10 days, Red Sox pitchers and catchers will report to spring training. With a chance to get an early start, Jon Lester, Andrew Bailey and Andrew Miller, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway are reportedly among players already in Fort Myers. One way or the other, David Ortiz will join the group soon. With his arbitration hearing slated for Monday, the Red Sox will aggressively...

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump. However, two sources I spoke to -- one inside the clubhouse and one in management -- said Lester's comments only told part of the story. Their feeling is that the behavior of Lester, Josh Beckett, John...

Slowly but surely, the Red Sox are coming forward and addressing the public.  When you are accused of the types of things the Sox have been accused of it’s probably a smart idea to plan your rebuttals carefully.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester admitted Monday he drank beer in the clubhouse during games when he was not starting, but argued it had nothing to do with the team's historic September meltdown. Lester conceded to the Boston Globe that "it was the wrong thing to do," but said he and fellow pitchers Josh Beckett and John Lackey were also drinking in the clubhouse...

The Boston Red Sox became the Red Sux as they eat and drank away a 10.5 game lead in the Wildcard in the final month of the season. There were rumors of players doing this, that and the other thing - everything besides taking extra ground balls and hitting off tees during down time. We now know that Jon Lester was one of the handful that put other things in front of the Wildcard...

Boston Red Sox lefthander Jon Lester admits he partook in drinking in the clubhouse during games.Lester said he was among the participants in beer-drinking sessions during games in which he was not scheduled to pitch. Reports out of Boston last week targeted members of the starting rotation, saying they would drink beer and eat fried chicken while their teammates were on the field...

(above: Lester, Lackey & Beckettt, shown during spring training, sprinting….after an ice cream truck) “I’m who I am because of my wife and my mom and dad. Not Josh (Beckett)”, Red Sox starter Jon Lester insists to Peter Abraham in Monday’s Boston Globe.  Responding to last week’s reports that portrayed the trio of Lester, Beckett and the underachieving...

Jon Lester was pretty adamant on Monday that he was not a follower. He did all he could to prove that by being the first member of the Red Sox rotation to address all of the rumors that have been swirling this offseason. Lester launched something of a media blitz on Monday starting with his conversation with The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham on Monday morning. Lester was trying to...

Some Red Sox were accused of drinking beer during games. Jon Lester admitted to doing it. But now a report says they even drank in the dugout during games.

When he was asked Monday night whether he would handle anything different during these final two do-or-die days, Terry Francona mentioned just one thing. Simply put, he won't stick with a struggling starter as long as he would if it was earlier in the season. The way things have gone for the Red Sox rotation lately, that decision is usually made for him. Many starts have been abbreviated...

After a 2011 season that saw ten different pitchers get MLB starts, the Boston Red Sox are going down a different route in 2011. None of Boston's starters thew over 200 innings, with just two, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, qualified for the ERA title. Three of Boston's six starters who started double digit games, Tim Wakefield, John Lackey and Andrew Miller, had ERAs over 5.00...

The lasting image of Terry Francona embracing Jon Lester after the lefty finished off a no-hitter in 2008 will forever be remembered as one of the most touching moments in Red Sox history. While nothing could be said to tarnish that memory, Lester's comments to The Boston Globe on Monday certainly come as a bit of a shock from a player who was once said to have a father-son-type...

Every morning we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump... Josh Beckett has broken his silence. Nearly two weeks before Red Sox pitchers and catchers must report to Fort Myers, Beckett made his first public comments about the team’s historic September collapse...

BALTIMORE - And now it's up to Jon Lester. Even before the Red Sox took the field against the Orioles last night,...

Every morning we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump... Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said yesterday that he and his staff have been doing “a lot of math’’ to figure out whether the team has enough starting pitching for the coming season. ...

Jon Lester stepped up to the plate yesterday, but did he swing and miss? Ask and you shall receive I guess. Last Friday I wrote that the Owners silence on all things September was both damning and deafening. A few hours later John Henry held court on the Felger and Mazz Show and helped clear a lot of doubt the Faithful had in him. Then yesterday I wrote the below: "It'd be nice...