The San Francisco Giants took the field on a mission. Not with the unified purpose of other teams like the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets with a chance to snag a final playoff spot on the final day of the season — no, that ship has long sailed. This group of same-suited players had individual pursuits on their mind. History, meaning could be achieved on the personal level in game 162 of the 2025 season.
For Rafael Devers, the task was simple. Get to the plate, log one official appearance, and he’d
become only the 34th player in history to play in 163 games in a single season. There wasn’t much standing in his way from logging 163 on 162 other than an act of god, or an act of extreme bone-headedness. Devers triple-checked his laces before leaving the clubhouse. He exercised caution mounting each dugout step. He scanned the sky for gathering storm clouds, or falling pianos, then shuffled to the on-deck circle so as to not twist his ankle. He turned his back completely to the plate and mound so as to not be tempted to chirp balls-and-strikes or get involved in a benches-clearing fracas that could get him ejected.
That journey from dugout to the batter’s box went down without incident, and with a long flyout to left, Devers became the first player since Justin Morneau in 2008 to play in 163 games.
For Willy Adames, things were slightly more complicated.
In his first year as a Giant, after a painfully slow start to his year, the 2025 Willie Mac Award winner sat, somewhat miraculously, at 29 homers, one away from recording his third career 30-HR season and one away from exorcizing the franchise from a decades long haunt by Barry Bonds. I imagine Adames went to bed last night with his bat on the pillow next to him. He probably woke up early to practice his swing in front of the mirror, exaggerating his upper-cut, muttering under his breath with each hack: 30-degrees, 30-degrees… Manager Bob Melvin shifted Adames to top of the line-up to give him as many chances at the plate to tally that crucial knock. He had only started a game as a leadoff hitter once before in his career. The new spot in the order clearly didn’t rattle him, nor did he seem uncomfortable swinging with his back against the wall. The first pitch thrown by Colorado starter McCade Brown was a 95 MPH sinker, belt-high and out over the plate, and Adames drove it 417 feet over the wall in center.
More than 500 Major League players had recorded a 30-HR season in the 21 intervening years since Bonds launched 45 in 2004. According to Sarah Langs, every team had at least one player achieve the feat since 2019, and at least six since the last Giants hitter. As late as July, I was convinced we’d have to wait another year for the drought to be over.
Guess I was wrong about that one.
For Logan Webb, he had a chance to become the fourth Giant in franchise history, and first since World War Two, to lead the National League in both innings pitched and strikeouts.
2025 was already a year of superlatives for Webb. Taking the mound on Sunday, he logged a career-high 34th start. Six innings pitched against the Cardinals in his last start locked up his first 200 IP – 200 K season. His 201.2 innings pitched led the NL runner-up Cristopher Sánchez by 5.1 innings. A pretty comfortable gap, but with Sánchez taking the hill for the Phillies at the same time, Webb needed to just eat some frames — a task he is completely comfortable with.
Sánchez logged 5.2 scoreless innings of work against Minnesota, lifting his total to 202 innings, and Webb pretty much did the same against Colorado. When word came to the dugout that the Phillies had taken Sánchez off the mound, Melvin watched Webb grab one more out on a grounder to short before pulling him. The day’s work ended his season at 207 IP, a total that not only secured the NL innings crown but pushed him past Boston’s Garret Crochet for the Major League lead — the second time Webb has achieved that feat (2023).
Innings were just one side of Webb’s pitching coin this year. Unlocking the top of the zone with a four-seamer and cutter in 2025, he added a new part to his pitching identity — he became a strikeout guy. Webb had never fanned more than 194 batters in a season until this year. Going into this start, he had matched his 2021 9.6 K/9 rate, and his 216 strikeout total was tied with Jesús Luzardo and Paul Skenes for the league lead. Neither of those starters would be on the hill on the final day, meaning Webb had the opportunity to take sole ownership of the crown, something he had never done before.
Against the soft-bellied Colorado order, it was clear from the get-go that Webb was pitching for one thing. He got Ezequiel Tovar, the first batter he faced, to chase a sweeper in the opposite batter’s box. 217 — he was alone at the top, but Webb didn’t stop there. An elevated four-seam claimed Hunter Goodman. A change-up dotted at the bottom of the zone whiffed Blaine Crim.
Webb would go on to claim five more for eight on the day, and 224 on the year while rising his K/9 rate to 9.7. He scattered 3 hits over 5.1 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 3.22. The bullpen would close out the game with 3.2 shutdown frames to hand Webb his 15th victory. Adames hit his 30th HR in the 1st. Devers launched another solo shot in the 4th for his 35th (20th as a Giant) and 109th RBI.
Jung Hoo Lee ended what was essentially his rookie year with a 3-hit night including a 2-out, 2-RBI single in the 8th to put the game out of reach and secure the series sweep.
81 – 81 — put it in the books.
