Longtime Pittsburgh Pirates scout Jimmy Lester, with his daughter, Hannah, riding shotgun, flipped on his turning signal and entered the middle lane in a small town outside Portland, Maine. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and turned onto a side street.
Scouts from around the league began blowing up his phone with text messages.
“Is this real?” one scout asked.
“Am I reading this right?” another inquired.
“Yes, it’s happening,” Lester responded.
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The Detroit Tigers promoted Josh Lester, Jimmy’s son, to the majors on Saturday night after seven years in the minor leagues. The 28-year-old, who hit 32 home runs in 2021 and 25 more this season, joined the roster Sunday, entered as a pinch-hitter Monday for his MLB debut and received his first start Tuesday. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts (and a hard-hit lineout) and said he felt timed up at the plate.
Before shifting into the middle lane, Jimmy Lester received a FaceTime invitation for a call that included Josh, Hannah, and his wife, Beth, an assistant principal at Blanchard Elementary School in Columbus, Georgia. Labor Day provided a long weekend, so she went to visit her son — playing for Triple-A Toledo — in Rochester, New York. Jimmy had been watching the Mud Hens on his phone while visiting his daughter in Portland, and he hoped to get back to his hotel before his son’s next plate appearance.
“I just saw him hit five minutes ago,” Jimmy said.
He paused.
“And then the phone rang,” he continued.
In Rochester, Mud Hens manager Lloyd McClendon took Lester into the tunnel leading to the dugout. He homered in the first inning and grounded into a double play in the second inning. Beth was in the stands making friends with some season ticket holders. When she answered the FaceTime, she was bewildered to see Josh’s face on the screen. About 500 miles east, Jimmy handed his phone to Hannah in the car.
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“They’re like, ‘What are you doing?'” Josh said. “They all knew we were playing. I don’t even know how the conversation went. I told them that I was going to the big leagues and they needed to be in Detroit. The rest of it is kind of a blur.”
A real eye for talent
Jimmy, who has scouted since 1991, came home from a scouting road trip when Josh was 7 years old. They went to the backyard to play catch with a squishy ball. Using a real baseball was too risky. After a fielding some grounders, Josh wanted his father to put the ball in the air.
“Hit me some pop flies,” Josh said.
“No, Josh, I’m not going to do that,” Jimmy said. “I’m afraid it’s going to hit you in the head.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jimmy saw Beth come out of the house and onto the back porch. At that time, their son delivered his closing statement. “Why not, dad?” Josh said. “Mom does it all the time.” Beth grinned, and Jimmy started hitting pop flies. Josh didn’t have any trouble catching them.
When Beth heard Josh’s big news, she screamed. She then started crying as she realized the fulfillment of a 23-year dream. When Josh was 5, he decided he wanted to play in the big leagues. About that time, Josh began watching “SportsCenter” before school. He soaked up everything about the players and their stats.
Stats are the subject of playful banter between Jimmy and Josh. Before his scouting career, Jimmy spent five seasons in the minor leagues in the late 80s. He says he was nowhere near as talented as his son, but he reached Double-A with the San Diego Padres. The Tigers drafted Josh in the 13th round — No. 400 overall — in 2015 out of Missouri. Three years later, he hit 21 home runs for Double-A Erie. Sometimes, Josh would ask his dad if he’s ever hit that many home runs in Double-A. Jimmy, who hit .331 in 1987, would respond by asking if Josh ever had a .300 batting average in a single season.
“He’s one upped me,” Jimmy said, “and now he’s got the big one on me.”
But Jimmy’s career as a scout set the foundation for Josh to take over as the family’s best baseball player. When Jimmy commuted to a game, he would bring his son to scout with him. They always had a whiffle ball and a bat for batting practice in the parking lot during down time. One time, a high school game brought together 7-year-old Josh, Jimmy and Tony LaCava, now the Toronto Blue Jays’ senior vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager. With LaCava throwing batting practice, Josh took a confident swing and whistled a line drive past his head. It’s a memory LaCava hasn’t forgetten.
“Tony was so shocked that he could swing like that,” Jimmy said. “Tony texted me and said, ‘Congratulations, he’s a major leaguer. But I remember him swinging and nearly taking my head off in the parking lot.'”
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Around the same time, Jimmy was scouting for the Dodgers and took Josh to see a pitcher named Edwin Jackson from Shaw High School in Columbus, Georgia. That’s the town where Jimmy and Beth planted their roots and raised their family. The Dodgers drafted Jackson in the sixth round in 2001; he went on to play for 14 teams — including the Tigers twice — in his 17-year MLB career.
“Josh and Edwin still keep in touch,” Jimmy said. “I would take him as often as I could, and we’d watch games together. As he grew up, we would talk baseball.”
Changing for the better
Visits to the ballpark weren’t lost on Josh, who won the 2006 Little League World Series and quickly developed an understanding for the nuances of the game. He loves to talk hitting and evaluate his opponents. He has learned to spot the differences in the players that do and don’t reach the big leagues. Whenever his playing career ends, Jimmy thinks his son will be equipped for a scouting or coaching role.
Hunter Mense, now the Toronto Blue Jays’ assistant hitting coach, coached Josh at Missouri and is now a close friend. After Josh’s first year in the minors, he spent the offseason in Missouri to train with Mense.
Mense’s wife, Nicolette, is the team dietitian for the New York Jets. That winter, Josh dropped 30 pounds of fat and picked up 10 pounds of muscle. His confidence skyrocketed, and his performance improved. He hit 13 homers in 2017, 21 in 2018 and 19 in 2019.
Then, 2021 happened.
Jimmy kept his opinion to himself, but he thought hitting .270 with 20 homers would be a successful season for Josh and constitute a full-time job in Triple-A Toledo. Still, there wasn’t a clear path to the majors with Miguel Cabrera and Spencer Torkelson in the organization. For inspiration, Josh looked up to former Tigers farmhand Jason Krizan, who spent 11 years in the minor leagues before his MLB debut in 2022 with the San Francisco Giants. They played together for two weeks in Triple-A in 2019. Two years later, Josh crushed 32 home runs and tied for fifth-best in all of the minors.
“There was a lot more consistency in his swing,” Jimmy said. “He wasn’t giving away ABs like he does when he really struggles. It was just more consistency. And he started hitting these home runs. I knew he had power, but that kind of power? I mean, he hit some long ones, too.”
Nearing 25 homers, Josh shared his goal for his career year.
“Dad, I’m shooting for 30,” Josh said.
The Tigers promoted Lester to Triple-A Toledo after his 25th home run in Double-A. He proceeded to hit seven homers in 25 games and finished with 32 homers in 109 games between the two levels last season.
Lester started slow this year but hit .243 with 25 home runs in 125 games for the Mud Hens. He posted a .900 OPS with 19 homers in 69 games from June 12 through Sept. 3. Cabrera’s left biceps strain opened the door for Lester’s ascent to the big leagues after 3,023 career plate appearances in the minors.
“His dad has been in baseball his whole life, and I got a number of texts from scouts around the league that were thrilled for him and for Josh,” manager A.J.. Hinch said. “I told him he’s earned it. It would have been way easier to call up somebody who’s on the roster, guys that have been here before.
“We felt like it was necessary to reward someone who’s outperformed the levels in which he’s played. He’s come back (after being a minor-league free agent) and has been in this organization for a while. …. Guys need to know that it matters when you do well, and Josh has performed well.”
Defensive versatility also helped Lester join the Tigers. This season, he started 86 games at first base, 13 games in right field, 10 games in left field, seven games at third base and four games at second base, along with four as the designated hitter. After Lester’s pinch-hit strikeout in the eighth inning Monday, he spent the final inning playing third base.
“Last year, I started to play some different positions to work my way into the lineup and give myself a chance to hit some home runs,” Lester said. “Whether it got me to the big leagues as a first baseman or third baseman. Whatever gets you to the big leagues, I’m not picky.”
Here to stay?
For the Lester family, this came out of nowhere.
He wasn’t on the 40-man roster, and September callups already happened. He seemed destined to stay in Triple-A for the remainder of the season.
“It always seemed easier for 40-man roster guys to come up,” Lester said. “Two days later, I have some of my best friends here, too.”
Cabrera is expected to return within the next two weeks, though he needs to rehab and regain strength in his bicep, so it’s unclear how long Lester will stick around with the Tigers. It would be difficult to carry Lester, Torkelson, Cabrera and Kerry Carpenter on the roster, but considering Lester’s defensive versatility, a strong hitting performance could lock in a longer stay.
Regardless of what’s next, Josh is finally a big leaguer and has achieved his lifelong dream.
“This is a dream that I’ve had since I was a little kid,” he said. “It was a dream that my dad had, to play in the big leagues. He shared that dream with me growing up. I think going through some of those ups and downs only made it better. That was part of the emotion, was how long and how hard the road has been and how though the road could be.”
“Hopefully, other guys that are going through the same stuff in the minor leagues and taking a little while can look at my story and be like, ‘He did it. He made it.’ I hope I can be an inspiration to some people that are grinding their way up, too.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.