After a sojourn as not-quite world conquerors, Logan Webb re-donned the orange-and-black on Thursday, taking the mound in what should be his last Cactus League start before 2026’s Opening Day.
It wasn’t the glorious, dominant return he may have envisioned for himself. Webb stifled international talent across two starts (allowing 1 ER over 8 2/3 IP) on the global stage and earned a nod to the All-WBC team for his efforts, but back in the desert, the Rockies bats bugged and sweated him to no end.
Webb
needed 86 pitches to record 13 outs, including a 2nd inning respite, and was bitten for 6 earned runs on 8 hits, a walk, and just 3 strikeouts. In true Webb fashion, 6 of those 8 hits were singles. The two extra-baggers came courtesy of new Western Division addition, Willi Castro, who doubled, then launched a game-tying solo shot in the 6th on the tenth pitch of the at-bat. Rising star Ezequiel Tovar (also named to the All-WBC Tournament team, representing world conquering Venezuela) ended Webb’s night by working an 8-pitch base-on-balls. Expectations are not mile-high for Colorado, but those types of nagging at-bats portend much hair-pulling and frustrated muttering to come for Giants pitchers. Something to look forward too…
But don’t worry! This isn’t the first time Webb has stumbled off the Spring Training mound only to find his legs in the regular season.
In 2024, his final game in the Cactus League was a 9 ER blow-out against the Cubs, ballooning his ERA to 10.97. Exactly three years prior to Thursday’s start, he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, including 2 homers, against the Angels. And in his final start before the 2022 regular season, Milwaukee got him for 4 runs on 6 hits again over 4 innings pitched. No alarm bells should be ringing. Nothing out of the ordinary here. If anything Webb seemed to pitch a bit off script, especially in the first couple frames, with a custodial concern for his down-ballot offerings. We saw more cutters and four-seams than you’d expect to see from him (both pitches accounted for 8% of Webb’s mix in 2025), including a first-pitch cut right down the middle to Castro in the 1st. Those pitches are used to raise the eye-line of the batter. They are not standalone features but splashes of color in the bouquet.
Colorado’s elevated rate of contact could be explained too by Webb’s average velocity being down across the board. Not sure why this was the case — perhaps the heat, or if this was by design. But it’s also a helpful reminder that despite his rise-to-prominence as a K-King last year, Webb relies on eliciting certain contact. With that approach, there’s always the risk of an inning like Colorado’s 2nd, in which four consecutive balls in play find holes in the infield and compound into an ugly crooked number. It’s all part of the experience. And if you’re still bothered by the final pitching line, perhaps there’s some solace to find in the fact that two of those six earned runs came when reliever R.J. Dabovich took the mound with two outs in the 2nd. It wasn’t all Webb’s fault!
Overall, it was a hit-happy kind of day in Arizona. Despite less than ideal pitching and some unfortunate defense in the later innings, the Giants slugged their way to a 14-11 win over the Rockies.
Leadoff man Drew Gilbert got into the swing of things with a 3-hit day including a triple off John Brebbia. Back-up catcher Daniel Susac launched his second homer of Spring off Brebbia in the 4th, and Christian Koss tacked one on later in the frame with his first longball.
Jerar Encarnacion continued to scorch the ball, collecting two hits, including a double and a pair of RBIs. Non-roster invitee Victor Bericoto continued to force the issue of his presence, as he’s done all Spring, with another 2-hit day while bagging his 14th RBI on a 2-out double in the 5th.
