Lester to start Chicago Cubs' series finale vs. Dodgers
Jon Lester will come off the injured list and pitch for the Chicago Cubs in Thursday's series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field.
The ace of the Cubs' pitching staff has passed all the tests since recovering on the injured list from a strained left hamstring, suffered during the April 8 home opener.
Lester may be limited slightly.
"Realistically, I'd say 75 (pitches), almost like what we had set up for (Tyler) Chatwood the other day," manager Joe Maddon said. "How we get to that number - is it stressful, is it non-stressful, does he have to leave the mound a lot on different plays? When he hits a double, how hard does he run to second base?
"We'll just monitor all of that. I'm saying 75-80 sounds like the right kind of number."
Maddon was joking about Lester hitting a double. He injured himself running the bases on April 8.
The Cubs will head to Arizona for the weekend. Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana will start the three games, respectively, against the Diamondbacks.
Bote is back:
The Cubs reinstated infielder David Bote from the paternity list Wednesday and optioned pitcher Alec Mills to Class AAA Iowa.
Bote missed only Tuesday night's game. He hit a game-winning single Sunday and rushed immediately to the airport to be with is wife, Rachel, who gave birth to the couple's third child, a son named Sullivan. The birth took place in Colorado.
"I showered, I changed, I left and made it to the airport in plenty of time," Bote said. "I knew that we were going to induce on Sunday night. I was like, 'We can't go to extra innings. Can't miss this flight.' It was still baseball, so I wanted to do what I could do to help the team win.
"It was a special day. It was fun. I guess those things have happened recently. Baby and mom are healthy, and that's all that matters right now."
Bote added that he got to the hospital about 10 p.m. Sunday and that the baby was born about 10 a.m. Monday.
As far as baseball goes, he has four career walk-off events in his short career.
"It's the mental side of calming yourself, making sure you look for what you want to do," he said.