Jon Lester tackles throwing to bases one bounce at a time
Jon Lester
Jon Lesterâs first hide-your-eyes throwing error of the spring occurred Sunday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick  reminding everyone of  his  glaring inability to throw to bases.
 Lester  cleanly fielded David Peraltaâs chopper to the left side of the mound in the third inning of the Cubsâ 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks  but  his  throw was angled downward and bounced a few times to first base on what was scored a hit and an error.
 Lester  got out of the inning unscathed  and it didnât really matter in a meaningless Cactus League game. Still  throwing poorly to first is a deficiency  Lester  canât seem to shake  and  he  said Sunday  he  has been working on a new method with third-base coach Brian Butterfield.
âWeâre working on the Jordan-to-Pippen bounce pass â  Lester  said.
Thatâs what Butterfield is calling the move he wants  Lester  to make on grounders  naming it after former Bulls stars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
âIn  his  words  just eliminate all tension and bounce it over there â  Lester  said. âWeâve been working on it early in the morning. Obviously it was not a good throw  but my sights were a little off on what weâve been working on.
 Lester  knows itâs unconventional and seems bizarre for one of the gameâs elite pitchers to have to bounce a throw to first for an out.
âI donât really care what it looks like â  he  said. âI donât care if it bounces 72 times over there. An outâs an out. It goes down as a 1-3 or a 1-6 or a 1-4.
 Lester  began purposely bouncing some throws to first last year  but usually they were one-hoppers that Anthony Rizzo could dig out. This spring heâs working on the throws with the regular infielders  and said minor league first baseman Efren Navarro  who started Sundayâs game  wasnât familiar with the move.
âI feel bad for the guy today â  Lester  said. âHe had no idea whatâs going on. Heâs never been a part of it. With Rizz  probably the surprise wouldnât have been thereâ¦ Spring training. Weâll get the sight line right.â
Photos of Cubs starting  pitcher Jon Lester .
 Lester  has never been efficient throwing to bases  dating to  his  high school days. Itâs why  he  seldom makes pickoff throws  and why Cubs fans celebrate wildly whenever  he  does pick someone off  as  he  did with the Cardinalsâ Tommy Pham in a game last June at Wrigley Field.
At the Cubs Convention in January  catcher Willson Contreras claimed  he  gave  Lester  some sage advice during a mound visit before the pickoff.
 Lester  said Contrerasâ story was true âfor the most part â but added the catcher âwasnât that emphaticâ about throwing to first.
In his fourth season with the Cubs   Lester  has addressed the throwing issue repeatedly. It started  his  first game in 2015 when ESPN focused on the throwing problem during its broadcast.
âIâve never run from it â  Lester  said. âI feel like Iâve been upfront with everything. I feel like Iâve worked my butt off to get better at things. Iâve tried to speed my delivery up.
[TGT]  first hide-your-eyes throwing error of the spring occurred Sunday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick  reminding everyone of   [TGT]   glaring inability to throw to bases.
 Lester  cleanly fielded David Peraltaâs chopper to the left side of the mound in the third inning of the Cubsâ 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks  but  his  throw was angled downward and bounced a few times to first base on what was scored a hit and an error.
 Lester  got out of the inning unscathed  and it didnât really matter in a meaningless Cactus League game. Still  throwing poorly to first is a deficiency  Lester  canât seem to shake  and  he  said Sunday  he  has been working on a new method with third-base coach Brian Butterfield.
âWeâre working on the Jordan-to-Pippen bounce pass â  Lester  said.
Thatâs what Butterfield is calling the move he wants  Lester  to make on grounders  naming it after former Bulls stars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
âIn  his  words  just eliminate all tension and bounce it over there â  Lester  said. âWeâve been working on it early in the morning. Obviously it was not a good throw  but my sights were a little off on what weâve been working on.
 Lester  knows itâs unconventional and seems bizarre for one of the gameâs elite pitchers to have to bounce a throw to first for an out.
âI donât really care what it looks like â  he  said. âI donât care if it bounces 72 times over there. An outâs an out. It goes down as a 1-3 or a 1-6 or a 1-4.
 Lester  began purposely bouncing some throws to first last year  but usually they were one-hoppers that Anthony Rizzo could dig out. This spring heâs working on the throws with the regular infielders  and said minor league first baseman Efren Navarro  who started Sundayâs game  wasnât familiar with the move.
âI feel bad for the guy today â  Lester  said. âHe had no idea whatâs going on. Heâs never been a part of it. With Rizz  probably the surprise wouldnât have been thereâ¦ Spring training. Weâll get the sight line right.â
Photos of Cubs starting  pitcher Jon Lester .
 Lester  has never been efficient throwing to bases  dating to  his  high school days. Itâs why  he  seldom makes pickoff throws  and why Cubs fans celebrate wildly whenever  he  does pick someone off  as  he  did with the Cardinalsâ Tommy Pham in a game last June at Wrigley Field.
At the Cubs Convention in January  catcher Willson Contreras claimed  he  gave  Lester  some sage advice during a mound visit before the pickoff.
 Lester  said Contrerasâ story was true âfor the most part â but added the catcher âwasnât that emphaticâ about throwing to first.
In his fourth season with the Cubs   Lester  has addressed the throwing issue repeatedly. It started  his  first game in 2015 when ESPN focused on the throwing problem during its broadcast.
âIâve never run from it â  Lester  said. âI feel like Iâve been upfront with everything. I feel like Iâve worked my butt off to get better at things. Iâve tried to speed my delivery up.