The Chicago Cubs saw their season end in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday night with a 13-inning loss in the NL Wild Card Game, but Jon Lester feels they will be better for it in the long run.
Lester, who struck out nine and allowed just one earned run in six innings, told reporters after the game that getting “knocked down in the dirt” could help the Cubs realize how fortunate they were to be in the postseason.
Lester : "Sometimes you need to get your (bleep) knocked in the dirt in order to appreciate where you’re at. Maybe we needed that. Maybe we needed to get knocked down a peg or two to realize nothing is going to be given to us."
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) October 3, 2018
Lester: "Maybe in the long run, this will be good for us. You can learn from losing. I feel like that’s not what anyone wants to hear, but this will be good for us moving forward."
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) October 3, 2018
While optimistic, Lester’s comment is a bit surprising given the way the game ended. Typically that mindset is more appropriate after a team gets blown or or doesn’t show up ready to play, but the Cubs fought hard for 13 innings and lost on a clutch hit from a little-known backup catcher.
Chicago started out extremely slow this season before straightening things out, and there’s no reason to think they won’t be right back in the thick of things in 2019. If they share the same mindset as Lester, they should be more motivated than ever.
