Jon Lester picked off his first baserunner since 2015, then joked about it with David Ross

During his start in Saturday's 5-3 victory over the Cardinals, Jon Lester did what was thought impossible: He picked off a baserunner. 
Long known for his inability (or perhaps disinterest) at throwing over to first, it was Lester who caught Tommy Pham testing the fates with a nearly 20-foot lead to notch his first pickoff since 2015.

During Sunday night's broadcast, when the Cubs defeated the Cards, 7-6, Lester chatted with his former catcher, David Ross, who often had to deal with all those fearless baserunners when he took the field with the lefty. 
Lester joked with the "Dancing with the Stars" finalist, saying, "We all know you weren't here for your bat, so I wanted to give you a chance to throw some guys out." He continued, "That's kind of what I'm doing for Willie [Willson Contreras] right now. We want to get his arbitration numbers up, so he can make a little money." 
Though the southpaw was joking, it is true: Even if he doesn't throw over to the bag often, runners can't race around the bases with reckless abandon. Thanks to a quick slide-step and Contreras behind the plate, runners are just 6-for-14 against him when trying to steal this year. 

But really, now we know the truth behind Lester's yips: He's just helping out his batterymate.