4 years agoWashington Nationals starting pitcher Jon Lester is happy with his energy levels following the removal of one of his parathyroid glands this spring. Lester said he felt fatigued dating back to last season with the Cubs up until the surgery, so perhaps that partially explains his struggles in 2020, but 2019 didn't go so great either after a superb 2018. That said, his innings per start average did fall from about five-and-a-half to just over five between 2019 and '20. His strikeout rate also tanked from 21.6% to 15.8%, which is probably less associated with the fatigue problem. Lester, 37, is Washington's #4 starter this year. If you want to take a bet in the last round of a draft that the surgery will have a positive effect on his on-field performance, there could be worse tries, but don't overvalue this spring storyline.--Nathaniel Green
Source: Mark Zuckerman, MASN/Twitter