SF Giants shut down starting pitcher Logan Webb, will place him on injured list

The SF Giants have decided to skip right-handed pitcher Logan Webb's final start of the season and will place him on the injured list with back tightness.

The SF Giants will place Logan Webb on the 15-day injured list with lower back tightness on Sunday after the team was mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Manager Gabe Kapler explained to reporters on Saturday that the Giants have been hoping to lessen Webb's workload late in the season and were planning to skip his final start if they were out of postseason contention.

"We are going to shut Webby down, and we're doing that to manage his overall workload," Kapler told reporters. He added that recalling pitching prospect Sean Hjelle from Triple-A was a possibility.

Webb was exceptional for the Giants this season and will finish the year with a 2.90 ERA across 192.1 innings pitched with 163 strikeouts (all career-highs). Kapler commended Webb for his performance this season, saying, "It's just an A+ season all the way around." He credits him for taking on a more prominent role as a clubhouse leader alongside his play on the field.

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"Personally, I wish I did a little bit better," Webb admitted in a conversation with reporters. "I had some other goals that I kind of wanted to get to, but that's also part of the reason why I think they think it's a good idea to shut it down, because those goals are important for the coming years also, not just this year. Overall, I thought it was decent. There were some things I wish I probably did a little bit better."

There were extremely high expectations for the 25-year-old righty coming into this season. A fourth-round pick by the Giants in 2014, Webb emerged as one of the best young pitchers in MLB in 2021. By the end of the year, he was the team's ace as they won 107 games and reached the postseason. Over his final 22 starts (including the postseason), Webb struck out 142 hitters in 131 innings pitched with an excellent 2.20 ERA.

Webb was unable to replicate his excellent 2021 strikeout rate in 2021, but despite surrendering more contact, he remained nearly as effective and consistently worked deep into games. Furthermore, Webb, like every Giants pitcher this season, had to work around the team's inconsistent defense. One scorekeeping decision lowered his ERA by an entire run, but even if his ERA was unaffected, he was forced to throw more pitches earlier in games, likely forcing him to depart outings earlier than otherwise.

The SF Giants face several questions heading into this offseason. However, Logan Webb has proven that his 2021 season was no fluke. San Francisco's front office has a foundational piece to potentially build another excellent starting rotation.