During the National League Championship Series, we -- well, and the Los Angeles Dodgers -- highlighted how Chicago Cubs southpaw Jon Lester refuses to throw to first base. It didn't take long into the World Series for the Cleveland Indians to test and validate that observation as a fact.

Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor stole a (taco-winning) base the first time he reached against Lester, staking out a solid -- but not egregious -- lead in the process:

lindor-lead.jpg
Lindor had a good lead. CBS Sports

Yet it was the second time Lindor reached against Lester that things went batty. Lindor again staked out a similar lead, but this go-around he took off before Lester began his delivery. Lester stepped off and would've had Lindor picked off ... except, again, he refuses to attempt a throw to first base. Take a look:

The one time you won't see this result in a pickoff. MLBAM

Lindor eventually tried stealing second base later in the sequence, and was thrown out -- although it was a bang-bang play, and even slow-motion replays didn't make it clear whether he'd been tagged. The most interesting part of Lindor's strategy against Lester? He refused to take extremely long leads:


We'll see if Lindor (and the Indians) get more aggressive with their leads against Lester -- and, contrariwise, if Lester will find a way to counter.