Jon Lester: "Sometimes You Need To Get Your Dick Knocked In The Dirt To Appreciate It. Maybe We Needed That."

Ain’t your fault, big Jon. As he always does, Jon Lester was nails in the postseason on Wednesday night, tossing six innings of one-run ball, while striking out nine. Lester built his name in October, and his legend continued to grow in the Wild Card game against the Rockies. But for as disappointed as Cubs fans must be tonight, Lester’s comments after the game made a lot of sense to me.

I said it when the Brewers shocked the world by completing their comeback to win the NL Central, and I said it again after the Rockies bounced the Cubs in the Wild Card game — those two teams just wanted it more. It was a reality check for a Cubs team that has achieved the pinnacle of the sport, a World Series title. However, 2016 is getting further and further back in the rearview mirror. Perhaps this Cubs team, who held the best record in the NL for a large portion of the year, just felt like an NLCS appearance was their given right, as they’ve been there each of the last three seasons.

There is no doubting how talented the Cubs are and how talented they will continue to be beyond 2018, but it takes more than talent to win in October. When it came time to lay it all on the line, the Cubs ran into two teams who were hungrier than them, and perhaps this Wild Card exit is the spark that lights the flame for their run in 2019. They won’t soon forget the way that they felt at the conclusion of that Wild Card game; that’s for sure.