Lester defends pitching around Harper: It's not 'wussing out'

Jon Lester says the Chicago Cubs aren't afraid to pitch to Bryce Harper.

In the four-game sweep of the Washington Nationals in May, The Cubs walked Harper 13 times. Lester didn't have the opportunity to face the slugger, but defended his club's decision not to pitch to him.

“That’s not wussing out on anything or not taking the challenge," Lester told reporters. "That’s just being smart and understanding the game and trying to make the next guy prove that he can do it.”

The left-hander added that it depends on the situation and not pitching to Harper with the game on the line or with runners on in a close game is a matter of passing it on to the next hitter.

“It depends on the game situation,” Lester said, adding the Cubs made that mistake in the 2015 postseason. “He’s the MVP. You always have to respect that. I don’t think that’s a matter of backing down or not taking the challenge.

"I feel like we didn’t do that last year with (Daniel) Murphy.”

Last year, Murphy, then a member of the New York Mets, scorched the Cubs in a sweep out of the National League Championship Series. In that span, he batted .529/.556/1.294 with four home runs and six RBI's.

“(Murphy) beat us that (playoff) series,” he added, “and we didn’t recognize that early enough to make the next guy beat us."