During a season when there’s been little to zero stability to the Giants’ starting rotation, Logan Webb has been virtually unshakable.
Webb spun another classic outing against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, going seven very strong innings while pacing San Francisco to a 4-2 victory that inched the club one step closer to the .500 mark.
It certainly wasn’t anything new or unexpected.
Giants fans have become accustomed to seeing a well-pitched game any time that their durable and efficient ace toes the rubber.
Webb leads the National League with 19 starts and is atop the entire MLB with 119 innings pitched. He’s already got seven victories under his belt this season and will likely make one more start before the All-Star break.
That leaves the 27-year-old in prime shape to reach double-digits for wins in a fourth consecutive season, cementing himself as the staff ace.
His latest gem came on Independence Day in front of a crowd of nearly 41,000 in Atlanta, and secured a third consecutive series victory for the Giants.
“It’s an easy one to get up for,” Webb told reporters at Truist Park. “You have the Fourth of July, it’s a packed house and you’re playing a good team, a very, very, vert good team. I had a lot of adrenaline going throughout and it kind of never stopped.”
As has been the case for most of the 2024 season, Webb’s biggest issues started right out of the gate.
The Braves’ first two hitters of the game reached base, and Atlanta scored its first run following a throwing error by right fielder Mike Yastrzemski. Webb got Marcel Ozuna to strike out swinging before Matt Olson singled and Austin Riley hit a sacrifice fly to drive in another run.
That was all the scoring the Braves could muster off Webb and two relievers. Webb is now 3-0 in five career starts at Truist Park.
In his 19 starts overall this season, Webb has a whopping 5.21 ERA in the first inning. That’s nearly a full point higher than Webb has in any other inning.
“It’s typical of a lot of really good starters,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “That’s the best chance you have to get to them. They got a couple runs in the first and then (Webb) was just dialed in command-wise, reading swings and doing what he does.”
It’s certainly not surprising why Webb leads the National League in innings pitched during the 2024 season. The game against the Braves marked the 11th time this year that he has logged at least seven innings.
The Giants’ workhorse also is second in the NL with the lowest average of home runs allowed per nine innings.
Yet the nagging problems that he’s had getting out of the first inning continue to be the biggest hurdle that Webb has yet to fix.
“I gotta figure out something,” said Webb, who was winless in his previous three starts. “I don’t know what it is, I couldn’t tell you. But it’s frustrating. It’s not a fun feeling being a starter and putting your team in a hole early on.
“Obviously the boys came back. It was awesome to see.”
Fans of The Orange and Black have been saying pretty much the same thing every time Webb trots out out to the mount. He’s been pretty awesome to see all season.
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