Levine: Jon Lester Sharp In First Spring Outing

By Bruce Levine-

MESA, Ariz. (CBS) -- When it comes to watching Cubs left-hander Jon Lester, it's worth observing him prepare. For when it comes to the business of baseball, he's all business.

Making his first Cactus League start of the season Friday, Lester mowed down the Red one-two-three in front of a packed house at Sloan Park.

"I felt all right," Lester said. "The tempo I had was good. My ball was up a little bit, I threw a couple good cutters (one broke a bat). My first one (with the Cubs), I had some jitters, just amped up and all that stuff. Now it's time to build up length."

Striking out Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier to end the first inning and Jay Bruce to start the second, Lester used all of his pitches, including a 92-mph fastball, a slider and a curveball to get through two innings of one-hit baseball.

"As far as my pitch-to-pitch adjustments and the way I was feeling in my thought process, it was all good," Lester said.

The $155-million man sets a serious-but-positive tone for all of his teammates as they watch his physical and mental preparation between starts.

"It was fun and motivational to watch Jon prepare to pitch last season," said White Sox right-hander Jeff Samardzija, who was teammates with Lester in Oakland last season. "He is a great person on top of the baseball work ethic he has."

Lester chose come to Chicago in order to reunite with front office members Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod. The four friends won two World Series titles in Boston together. Lester also had the comfort of catcher David Ross, a former Red Sox teammate, working behind the plate with him Friday.

When asked if there should be an adjustment period for the young talent that's expected to ascend to Chicago this season, Lester affirmed that the team is in win-now mode.

"Time to grow up sometime," he said. "When I played in Boston, we did not have time to grow up. You had to show up and play, and each year you are expected too win. That is how I feel -- every year they should expect to win. They should expect to be World Series champions. If you don't have that mindset, then I think you are playing for the wrong reason."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.