Webb's second outing 'wasn't his best work'

CHICAGO -- Logan Webb has turned into a top-tier pitcher for the Giants over the past couple of seasons, finishing with a 3.03 ERA in 2021 and a 2.90 ERA last year. This season, Webb is attempting to replicate that success by setting the tone for a deep rotation.

Despite a second straight four-run outing in the Giants’ 7-3 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, Webb has his track record of recent success to fall back on to help bounce back from his first two starts.

“I wasn’t getting ahead in counts,” Webb said. “They had a very different approach than a team like the Yankees. It just seemed like they were trying to go the other way and staying on the offspeed a lot. So, they made a good adjustment. I didn’t do a very good job of mixing some of the stuff up.”

Webb struck out an impressive 12 Yankees for a Giants’ Opening Day record, but he also allowed four runs on four hits across six innings in that start. Against the White Sox, Webb wasn’t at his best, either.

“First one [against the Yankees], I got beat by the long ball,” the right-hander said. “Today, I was beat by good hitting and a lot of singles.”

Webb tossed five innings and gave up four runs on nine hits to go with zero walks and four strikeouts. He struggled early against a solid White Sox lineup, and the Giants couldn’t overcome it. Webb gave up two runs in the first and fifth innings.

“I thought Logan missed with location a few times,” manager Gabe Kapler said. ““You have to be prepared for balls at the bottom of the zone against Logan. He’s going to throw that sinker and changeup off of it. They put some good swings on his balls today.”

The middle innings, though, were when Webb looked his best -- giving up just one hit across innings two through four. He also rang up Tim Anderson and Luis Robert Jr. on back-to-back punchouts in the third inning.

The consecutive strikeouts led to tempers flaring between Anderson and Webb.

Anderson was rung up after stepping out of the box while asking for and not receiving a timeout from home-plate umpire D.J. Reyburn. Anderson appeared to point at his eyes before walking back to the dugout, possibly suggesting that Webb never made eye contact with him.

Under the new MLB rules, pitchers must make eye contact with the batter before delivering the pitch.

“He called time and he got back in the box,” Webb said. “He was looking at me, I was looking at him, so I started my windup. I wasn’t trying to quick-pitch or anything, but he took it that way, I guess.”

Webb and Anderson eventually exchanged words after Robert struck out looking, ultimately resulting in the White Sox shortstop being ejected.

“He was yelling at me from the dugout for five straight pitches,” Webb said. “I looked at the dugout more than a couple of times -- once during Robert’s at-bat and then after Robert’s at-bat. He was just yelling back at me. I don’t necessarily think he should have gotten tossed. He was talking to me. He wasn’t talking to the umpires.”

Despite the couple of strong innings, it was evident that Webb didn’t have his best stuff. He only had eight swings-and-misses and gave up four-plus runs in consecutive games for just the second time since the 2020 season.

“Overall, it wasn’t his best work,” Kapler said.

After the free-agent departure of Carlos Rodón this offseason, Webb has taken over as the ace in the Giants’ rotation. Webb has shown that he can be that guy -- finishing 11th in the National League Cy Young voting in 2022.

If he can pitch like he did over the past two years -- or even better -- the Giants will be in great shape because of the rotation behind Webb.

All offseason, San Francisco has been pleased with its rotation depth, sporting six players -- Webb, Alex Cobb, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani, and Sean Manaea -- who can give the team starts throughout the 2023 campaign.

That can be a huge advantage, especially with an ace in Webb leading the way.

“Teams are looking to fill five-man rotations right now, so for us to be able to say that we’ve got more than that [says] we have a good deep pitching staff,” Kapler said.