So, what do you take from Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester’s no-hitter on Tuesday night? Start with a great, congratulatory feeling for the kid, even if you don’t like the Red Sox or have Lester on your fantasy team.

But, if you do like the Red Sox and do have Lester on your fantasy radar, you obviously should be feeling pretty good about him right now. He just threw a no-hitter, in his first career complete game by the way, but he had been performing solidly and steadily in the month leading up to this start. Monday night’s brilliance was a nice culmination of his good work, mixed with the Royals’ offensive futility and a little bit of luck.

Lester struck out nine and walked two im improving to 3-2 on the season. And all of a sudden, his 3.41 ERA and 1.30 WHIP are looking like quality additions to your fantasy lineup. Lester leads all left-handed pitchers and is tied for seventh in the majors with 66 innings pitched. Including his no-no, Lester also has four quality starts in his last five.

Entering the season, Lester was the least heralded member of Boston’s starting rotation, and he has been its most reliable outside of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Josh Beckett comes off allowing four home runs against Milwaukee on Sunday, and hyped rookie Clay Buchholz figures to be demoted when he returns from the disabled list, where he landed on May 15 with a broken finger nail.

Lester’s strikeouts and walks are not totals of a dominating starter, but his reliability and run support are very appealing moving forward. He’s available in more than half of ESPN Fantasy leagues and worth an addition, for reasons beyond his recent no-hitter.

More thoughts on Lester …
Small White Ball says even the most anti-Red Sox fan should appreciate Lester’s night.

A tear formed The Mighty Quinn Media Machine’s eye when Lester hugged manager Terry Francona after the game.

Sox1Fan points out that Jason Varitek made history behind the plate, too.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.