Lester May Start Chemo Today; "Burning Sensation" in Papelbon's Shoulder

Karen Guregian (Herald) reports that Jon Lester

could begin chemotherapy treatments as soon as today. ...

In recent weeks, Lester felt fatigued and noticed significant weight loss. A fender-bender on Storrow Drive on Aug. 18 left him with a bad back, and he was sent back to Boston during the Sox' recent West Coast road trip in order to get the injury examined. ...

When asked if the car accident was a blessing in disguise, Francona replied: "The doctor said they would have found it soon, anyway, car accident, or not."

The Lester family stated (pretty clearly, I thought): "We ask that you respect our need for privacy during this difficult time."

So what does everyone's favourite curly-haired mediot do?

I called Jon Lester's dad last night ... I knew the last thing he wanted to do was to speak to some cellphone-wielding reporter he'd never met. This is private time for the Lester family. We need to respect that, even those of us in the news business.

Yeah, I'll respect your right to privacy as soon as you answer my questions. ... We're getting horrible news every day about the Red Sox, but it comforting to know some things have not changed. Dan Shaughnessy remains a first-class asshole.

After making an errant pickoff throw to second, Jonathan Papelbon threw a pitch to Lyle Overbay and felt a "burning sensation" in his shoulder.

It was scary. When you throw a pitch and you let it go and you feel something that's not normal, panic starts to set it. I knew that something was wrong and I should come out of the game. ... I felt it a couple of pitches before I felt the larger strain. Right now we don't really know what's going on. It's just basically some sort of strain in the front of my shoulder. The doctors and trainers think it's just a fatigue issue, which hopefully it is, and I'll be back in a few days.

David Ortiz will not play this weekend:

I have a heart rate monitor connected to my body, and whenever I feel some irregular heartbeat, I'm supposed to press a button to alert doctors. Doctors will remove the instrument on Monday and, after checking the data produced, will decide whether I can start playing immediately, if I have to wait longer, or if I can't play again this season. ... I haven't felt any more palpitations since Monday. But I understand that everyone here wants to be 100 percent sure my health won't be at risk when I play again.