Logan Webb eyes second-straight 200-inning campaign

Apr 25, 2024, 8:52 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Logan Webb #62 of the San Francisco Giants reacts after t...

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Outside of his start against the National League West rival Los Angeles Dodgers, Logan Webb has been nearly untouchable in 2024.

Webb’s shortened outing against the Dodgers on April 2nd, in which the right-hander allowed five runs over 3.2 innings, is the lone blemish on a sparkling game log that includes five quality starts.

That’s right–five of Webb’s six starts thus far have seen the Rocklin product allow three or fewer runs over six or more innings pitched, including a dominant performance on Tuesday against the New York Mets:

8 IP | 6 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 4 K | 106 pitches (75 strikes)

Since 2022, Logan Webb has the lowest ERA in baseball of pitchers with 400+ IP 🔥#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/eDSU8OcX3h

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) April 24, 2024

“It’s huge for any team to have a guy like that,” manager Bob Melvin said of Webb’s start following a 5-1 win on Tuesday. “Those are the kind of guys that step up for you. That’s what aces are made of. You saw it from the beginning: All the ground-ball outs kind of tell you what’s going on with him.

“Low pitch count. Weak contact. That’s kind of when he’s at his best. It’s never really about strikeouts with him. It’s about early-count weak contact, and that’s what we saw basically the entire game.”

Webb has been lights out over his past four starts, holding a 3-0 record and 0.93 ERA to go along with 16 strikeouts. The 27-year-old hasn’t allowed a run to score in 19 innings–the longest scoreless innings streak of his six-year career.

“Bob told me I would have gone out for the ninth if I was under 100 pitches,” Webb said, who tossed two complete games in 2023. “I agreed with him on that, to be honest. I tried to get a strikeout at the end of the eighth inning, and I saw the pitch count. I wish I kept it under 100 there and went out for that last inning. One of these days.”

Holding opponents scoreless is important, but for Webb, going deep into games is just as important. The Cy Young Award runner-up from a year ago led the Major League’s with 216.0 innings pitched in 2023, something he would like to do again in 2024.

“You guys have heard me talk about it a million times,” Webb said of the 200 innings mark. “That’s the goal, to get to 200 [innings] hopefully every single [season] that I’m able to pitch. It’s the same this year. But yeah, it’s been a good stretch. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep going with it.”