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Giants putting Logan Webb on pitch count as season winds down

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© Ron Chenoy | 2022 Sep 21

Logan Webb is set to make his MLB-leading 32nd start Tuesday, six more than his previous regular-season high from last year. But the Giants’ ace won’t get full reign against the Rockies.

Webb, manager Gabe Kapler said, will be on some sort of pitch count. Kapler wouldn’t specify, but noted he likely won’t substantially surpass the century mark.

“I mean, without giving too much away, he’s not 105, 110 pitches today,” Kapler said pregame.

His last turn, Webb shut down the Rockies in Coors Field, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. But when he allowed a hit, Kapler removed him at 66 pitches. That start shouldn’t be taken as a strict template for Webb, though, since there was a weather delay involved.

If Webb did continue that Sept. 21 no-no in Denver, Kapler would have had to make an uncomfortable decision about his ace. He told reporters then that he would have re-evaluated Webb’s pitch limit after the sixth if the no-hitter remained intact.

Webb, who has posted a 2.93 ERA on the season, could set a similar calculus in motion Tuesday night with more dominance.

“If he has a no-hitter at some point, we’ll have to kind of read and react,” Kapler said Tuesday. “Short of that, I don’t see him pitching in the eighth or the ninth.”

Webb has mentioned 200 innings pitched as a goal for him, but added that it’s important to be smart. Before Tuesday, he’s pitched 187.1 innings. That makes reaching 200 across two more starts improbable but not impossible.

“I think that’s a great milestone,” Kapler said of the 200-inning threshold. “I think it really suggests an extreme level of durability in today’s game.”

Only 10 pitchers in baseball have thrown more innings than Webb this season. Whether he reaches 200 — or 195 or 196 — is mostly semantic. He’s proven himself as a clear-cut ace this year, vaulting himself up from a breakout 2021.


  • Kapler noted that in the club’s pregame medical meeting, the report on Brandon Belt is that he’s feeling better than he did before his Sept. 3 arthroscopic surgery. That reflects Belt’s comments in the broadcast booth, when he said he feels like “a brand new person.” It’s notable that Belt — set to hit free agency this winter — already has seen such improvements just a few weeks after going under the knife.

    “There’s a lot of optimism around Brandon right now,” Kapler said.
  • During the Giants’ 6-1 road trip, veteran Evan Longoria told The Athletic that the message he’s relayed to the clubhouse as this September wraps up is: find your why. In other words, every player should find the motivation to finish the year strong.

    As for Longoria’s why, the 36-year-old has some stats he’s still seeking.

    “I have certain numbers that I’ve looked at from the beginning of the year,” Longoria told KNBR Tuesday. “I’m not there yet. I’m not going to tell you what they are. But there’s certain things I’ve set out every year to try to chase after — certain statistical things. They’re less meaningful in the grand scheme of things, more meaningful for me. Just a way to keep myself pushing forward. Set the numbers high, set the bar high, and just kind of go after those numbers.”

    Is he close?

    “Yeah,” the 15-year veteran said. “The biggest thing for me, especially since I came back off the IL, my main focus was to stay on the field. To finish the year as strong as I could, on the field, healthy. And being as good a contributor as I can be. And sometimes, where I’m at right now, it doesn’t necessarily mean on the field. We have some younger guys that have come up, and I really enjoy watching those guys play. I enjoy learning from them, also. Talking to them, hearing their thoughts. Sometimes that role is just as important as putting your head down and grinding every day on the field.”