Giants trust in Webb for another big moment

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the words of Johnny Cueto, a philosopher moonlighting as a pitcher, the postseason is the time when players reveal who does -- and who doesn’t -- have coconuts.

Logan Webb is green to the playoffs. He’s the youngest member of a Giants rotation that, without him, exclusively features 30-year-olds and up. This environment, this moment, these circumstances, are all brand new. But when San Francisco takes the field for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Dodgers tonight at Oracle Park, the first pitch will come from the right arm of the club’s youngest starter. Even with the pressure, the stakes, the unfamiliarity, it’s a moment Webb welcomes with open arms.

“The thing about Webby that I'm sure most of you guys know is, he's the same guy every single day,” outfielder Mike Yastrzemski said. “He's a big goofball who shows up with a big, goofy smile on his face every day, in a good mood. No moment alters that -- whether it's a big one, whether it's a small one; he wants to go out there and compete.”

To have this opportunity, to pitch the first postseason game for the best team in baseball against the 106-win Dodgers and Walker Buehler, is one that Webb earned.

By fWAR, only Brewers right-hander Corbin Burnes (3.2) has been better than Webb (2.9) in the second half of the 2021 regular season. His regular-season line is littered with career highs and bests. On Sunday, Webb pitched the game of his life, smacked the first home run of his career for good measure and helped the Giants, at long last, win the NL West title. But in the not-so-distant past, it wasn’t unfair to wonder whether Webb could unlock this particular version of himself.

In Webb’s first two seasons, he had a 5.36 ERA in 94 innings. With Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Aaron Sanchez signing deals to complement Kevin Gausman and Cueto, Webb didn’t have a guaranteed rotation spot. Webb was, at this point, more tantalizing potential than tangible production. The former, though, would slowly begin to give way to the latter.

In Spring Training, Webb allowed one run in 17 innings. Behind that mastery, as well as an injury that sidelined Wood for the beginning of the season, Webb cracked the Opening Day rotation. Webb had his opportunity to earn staying power.

The beginning was bumpy. After two starts, Webb was sent to the bullpen. That stint lasted just one game due to an injury in the rotation, and upon being reincorporated in the fold, Webb pitched some of the better ball of his career. In seven post-bullpen starts, he had a 3.58 ERA and more strikeouts (42) than innings pitched (37 2/3). A right shoulder sprain, the same injury that caused Webb to miss a start in late May, landed him on the injured list for all of June, but when Webb returned, he shoved like he’s never shoved before.

Beginning with a tune-up on July 9, Webb posted a 2.63 ERA and a 2.43 FIP in his final 17 starts of the regular season. The stuff was nasty (9.42 K/9). The command was crisp (1.72 BB/9, 0.45 HR/9). From July 27-Sept. 7, Webb logged nine consecutive quality starts. The struggles of 2019 and '20 felt like a distant memory.

“It would be really fun to go back and listen to Logan talk postgame in his starts last year, in his starts in Spring Training and through his more recent starts, and see the differences in how he was carrying himself,” manager Gabe Kapler said.

The watershed moment in Webb’s development was his transition from being a “north-south" pitcher to an “east-west" version.

When Webb began his professional career, he had a standard three-quarters arm slot to complement his fastball and curveball mix. The righty had difficulty throwing a four-seamer after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2016, so with the help of Giants left-hander Andrew Suárez, Webb began throwing a sinker. Beginning last year, Webb began lowering his arm slot to better complement his stuff, though getting comfortable with the new arm slot required experimentation and tinkering.

“It took a while for me to kind of hone it in and it started last year, and we tried different shapes,” Webb said. “It took a lot of, I would say, kind of sucking a little bit to really hone those in.”

Those learning moments, those rocky starts have landed Webb here, in position to help deliver the Giants a 1-0 series advantage. The moment is Webb’s, and similar to his performance in Game 162 last week, he’ll have another opportunity to etch his name in franchise lore.