Chicago Cubs: Will tonight mark the beginning of Jon Lester’s turnaround?

As the Chicago Cubs head into the final six weeks of the season, they need their gritty veteran ace, Jon Lester, to step up and lead the charge to October.

It’s no secret. The Chicago Cubs need Jon Lester to get it figured out – and they can’t wait much longer for him to do so. That may sound like an overreaction, but with the St. Louis Cardinals playing their best ball of the year and the Milwaukee Brewers not going away any time soon, it’s now or never for Lester.

Through the All-Star Break, the veteran southpaw looked like the Jon Lester of yesteryear, earning his fifth career All-Star selection with a sterling 2.58 ERA and 1.191 WHIP in 19 starts. With pretty much every other Cubs starter lacking any degree of consistency, he anchored the staff with a rock-solid performance every five days.

And, then, the second half dawned. For Lester, things fell apart dramatically.

He has pitched past the fifth inning one time in five starts. Lo and behold, Chicago won that lone contest. Funny how that works, isn’t it? When a starter pitches deep and is effective, the Cubs win. Unfortunately, in his other four second-half starts, he’s been struggling to even keep the team in the ballgame.

Chicago Cubs: Coming off his worst start of the year

In his five post-All-Star Break outings, Lester has allowed eight earned runs on two occasions. That has certainly contributed to an unsightly 10.32 second half earned run average. He’s not missing bats, can’t keep the ball in the yard and isn’t doing much to take the load off the pen.

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He’s totaled just 22 2/3 innings since the Midsummer Classic – with opponents putting up a .386 BAbip against him. In the month of August, opponents are hitting a scorching hot .474 – which, again, has done the Cubs no favors.

The Chicago Sun-Times put together a great piece on Lester’s mentality – and what’s gone into his struggles. They point out what’s really gotten him in trouble – relying on essentially two pitches in tight spots. And, to be blunt, he’s had his fair share of such situations in recent weeks.

“When you struggle with life or you struggle with anything, you immediately run to something that’s comfortable, whatever that may be,” he said. “Well, for me, that’s my fastball and my cutter. I’ve been running to that when I’ve gotten into trouble over a period of starts.

So what’s the answer? Change up how you’re attacking hitters. The good news? He knows that. Jim Hickey knows that. And there’s no way he keeps making the same mistake over and over. He’s too smart a pitcher to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.