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Levine: Cubs, Lester Have Triangle Defense Set For Indians' Running Game

By Bruce Levine--

CLEVELAND (CBS) -- If you think that the Cleveland Indians are going to run the Cubs and left-hander Jon Lester out of Progressive Field in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night, you may want to look deeper into the process.

In Lester, you have a pitcher who's vulnerable to a small-ball attack and the stolen base. And the Indians feature base-stealing professionals who can disrupt a pitcher and impact a game.

At media day Monday, Cleveland manager Terry Francona didn't get into the way the Indians will attack Lester. Having managed Lester in Boston from 2006-'11, Francona has been well-aware of his aversion to throwing toward the bases.

"When I was (in Boston) toward the end, we knew it was surfacing," Francona said of Lester's issues. "We did a lot of things to make sure it didn't get in the open. I thought we did a good job of it, because it wasn't until I left there that people started to realize that."

The Cubs have built a defense around the Lester running-game issues. Lester worked his butt off in spring training, along with catcher David Ross and first base Anthony Rizzo, to build a trap defense. The foundation of the trap was for runners who were taking big leads and stealing bases in 2015. Ross and the other Cubs catchers combined for 12 pick-offs at first base in 2016.

These techniques included tireless work on the back fields at 8 a.m. in Mesa.

"The early work in spring training was the key to this," pitching coach Chris Bosio said. "After Jon threw his side sessions in Mesa, we would go right over to the Field 2 and work with the group on pick-offs and bunt plays. He did this every side day and sometimes in between. Rizzo and the catchers all were out there before the whole team stretched. They all helped to implement these plays. Our little triangle defense, with Rizzo, Ross and Lester helped to get a game plan that works for them. Jon is a great slide stepper, and Rizzo is as good as it gets in his movement around the bag.

Lester's slide-step delivery to home plate takes about 1.1 seconds, about 0.2 seconds quicker than the big league average.

"That is something I have not seen from the left side especially from a starter," Bosio said. "He and Chris Sale are one-two in slide step ability and getting rid of the ball. If you can slide step like Jon does, you will create a lot of timing issues for the base runners and the hitter."

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

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