Cubs Injury Update: Lester Throws 47-Pitch Sim Game to Schwarber, Contreras

Jon Lester was out on the mound at Wrigley on Monday, but it wasn’t to face the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead, he was pitching a simulated game against Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras. Lester threw 17 pitches in the 1st inning, 12 in the 2nd, and 18 in the 3rd before calling it a day.

This was the second time Lester had thrown since leaving his August 17 start against the Reds two outs into the 2nd inning after nine runs had been scored against him. You can’t really tell much from a sim game, but Jed Hoyer said Lester “seemed happy with the results.”

Hoyer went on to say that they’ll wait to see how Lester feels Tuesday to determine whether or not he needs a rehab start, but the timing seems to indicate that they’d like to have him back by this weekend. The sim game coincides with Lester’s spot in the rotation, which would come up again this Saturday.

The Iowa Cubs will finish their season with a four-game set in Omaha through September 4, so Lester could head down there for some live action if need be. That would push him back to Thursday, September 7 in Pittsburgh, a team that hits lefties really poorly. Even so, my guess is that he’s good to go for the big club this Saturday (so place your bets on a rehab start).

Of further note here is that Lester was throwing to Contreras, or rather, that Contreras was batting against Lester. Taking BP is one thing, but getting in there in a simulated game situation says a lot about how WillCo is progressing in his own rehab. Very good signs all around from Monday afternoon’s events.