Lester looking strong Francona pleased with pitcher’s work

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jon Lester got in some quality work off the mound Sunday morning and manager Terry Francona was impressed with what he saw from the lefthanded starting pitcher.

“Any time he leaves the mound feeling like he’s making progress is good,” Francona said. “He jerked a few pitches and sent some of the cutters into a righthander. It’s not the finished product, as you would expect, but I thought he looked strong and thought he stayed in his delivery.”

The 23-year-old Lester is coming back from treatment for anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a form of cancer that cut short a solid rookie season with the diagnosis in August. Lester went 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA in 15 starts after being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket last June.

Lester pitched a two-inning simulated game on the back field of City of Palms Park.

“He’s right on target for where he should be. When I say on target, he’s waayyyyy ahead of target, but for what we’ve written up, he’s right on pace,” said Francona.

To say Lester has been an inspirational story for his teammates would be a vast understatement.

“His story’s phenomenal. It’s a testament that he’s even here, to fight through what he fought through, mind and heart,” said catcher and team captain Jason Varitek. “You’re talking about life-threatening things, not having your knee scoped or a tired shoulder or something. It was a lot more complicated, and that’s why it’s so awesome to see him.”

Reliever-turned-starter Jonathan Papelbon has been equally enthused by Lester’s return to duty.

“Those are the kinds of guys you want to play with and be a part of. He’s just a great teammate,” said Papelbon, who was also Lester’s teammate at Single-A Sarasota and Double-A Portland. “To have someone go through that, you’re going through it with them. It’s pretty amazing that he’s bounced back.”

Timeout for Timlin

In other rehabilitation news, veteran righthanded reliever Mike Timlin will not throw at all for approximately a week due to discomfort he felt in his throwing shoulder after throwing 40 pitches during batting practice last Wednesday.

The 41-year-old Timlin is suffering from an oblique muscle strain, according to a Red Sox press release.

He originally felt the discomfort while throwing his first live batting practice in February.