MESA, Ariz. -- One Minor League batter called for time as Jon Lester had already started his delivery. There were a handful of defensive plays that were not made behind the veteran Cubs starter. Through it all on Monday afternoon, Lester was able to tune those things out and focus on the goals for his latest start.

"I didn't get mad at anybody," Lester quipped. "So that's always a positive."

On a Cactus League off-day for the Cubs, Lester took the mound on Field 6 on the Minor League side of Chicago's complex for a start against a Class A Rockies team. There was a larger crowd of fans than usual for the afternoon game, with Cubs farmhands also filling up the stands and gathering in small packs to observe the club's 35-year-old Opening Day starter.

Lester countered the fastball-hungry Minor League hitters with an increased number of changeups and curveballs, while working his cutter in and out to keep the kids leaning and guessing. When his day was done, the lefty piled up 87 pitches (61 strikes) in six innings, during which he registered a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 24 batters he faced.

The most important aspect of the outing was the volume of pitches.

"The biggest thing at this time of spring is getting the pitch counts up and getting that up-and-down six times," Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. "Now, with one more kind of tune-up before the season opener, we can even back off a little bit. That's a good sign, to have an outing like that and be able to kind of have a little bit more control."

Lester's next day to pitch falls on Saturday, when the Cubs face the Rockies at Salt River Fields. Then it will be on to Texas, where the lefty will face the Rangers in the March 28 season opener.

The controlled environment on Monday was on display in the fourth inning, when Lester ended the frame at 18 pitches even though there were only two outs. Later in the fifth, following a lengthy break between innings, Lester recorded four outs in the 17-pitch frame to make up the difference. He ended with two runs allowed on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

"It's definitely gone worse over there," Lester said of pitching on the Minor League side. "It's good to get out of there with some good work.

Plan for Strop
Right-hander Pedro Strop (right hamstring) threw off a mound within the past few days, but only a few pitches, according to Hottovy. The plan is to keep increasing the intensity and volume of the mound workouts over the rest of camp, with the goal of getting Strop back into a game setting before the end of Spring Training.

Hottovy was asked if one more spring game -- which would bring Strop's total to three -- would be enough for the late-inning reliever to break camp with the Cubs.

"Three's not ideal, but it's not a deal-breaker," Hottovy said. "If we feel like that outing goes well, then great. Even if we want him to get one more outing, you're talking about missing a game -- maybe two -- because of the off-days [at the start of the season], so you're not talking about missing much time.

"Hopefully, everything progresses, he keeps checking off these boxes and he's in a good place when Opening Day starts."

Morrow back on mound
Cubs closer Brandon Morrow took an important step forward on Monday, firing 20 fastballs off a mound in his first bullpen session since undergoing a right elbow scope in November. The timing falls in line with the expected schedule, meaning Morrow is still likely to miss about a month to start the regular season.

"It was good. First time off the mound, he looked great," Hottovy said. "Everything was clean. I think he's in a good place right now. And again, now it's starting that process of, OK, this is Spring Training for him now, and getting him the reps he needs and the bullpens he needs."

If everything goes according to schedule with no setbacks, Morrow could get back on a mound again by Thursday or Friday.

Up next
The Cubs will give the start to right-hander Yu Darvish on Tuesday, when a split-squad Chicago team hosts the Mariners at 3:05 p.m. CT at Sloan Park. As of Monday night, the Cubs had not announced who will start in the 8:05 p.m. CT split-squad road game against the Royals in Surprise, Ariz.