SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Always his harshest critic, Logan Webb expressed after his most recent start how much he’d like to see a zero in the runs column next to his name, even in a meaningless spring training box score.
He had one final tuneup to do it, Friday against the Cubs, and after laboring through 4⅓ innings in a 13-12 come-from-behind win, Webb said, “I did the opposite.”
Ahead of the third Opening Day start of his career, Thursday in San Diego, Webb surrendered nine runs on nine hits, including a pair of home runs with the ball flying on an especially arid day in desert. Allowing the Cubs to bat around in the first, Webb was pulled before he could escape the inning and reentered to start the second.
The start raised Webb’s ERA in six Cactus League starts to 10.97.
“I know it doesn’t look good,” Webb said. “But I’m actually somewhat happy with how I was feeling.”
Knowing the standard Webb to which holds himself, let’s hear him out.
“I thought the rest of the outing (besides the first inning) was pretty good,” he said. “I really did feel good the last couple innings. I thought the changeup got better as the outing went on. The control of the pitches started to get better. … The shapes (of pitches) are all fine still. I thought first-pitch strikes were better. I’m a ground ball guy and this air sometimes doesn’t do me very well. Hopefully the zeroes start coming in when they start to matter.”
Still, Webb couldn’t help himself.
“It’s still not good enough,” he said. “I know that. I don’t feel good about it. But I’m trusting the process and I’m hoping everyone else is trusting the process as well.”
If manager Bob Melvin has learned anything about his ace this spring…
“That’s just who he is, right?” Melvin said.
For reasons besides boosting his own confidence in his final spring training start, Webb would have liked to pitch better. The lineup behind him resembled the one that could take the field with him on Opening Day.
Jung Hoo Lee led off, playing center field, and added two more hits to his impressive spring ledger, raising his batting average to .414. Jorge Soler, batting second as the designated hitter, singled him over, and LaMonte Wade Jr. drove him home to score one of his two runs.
Matt Chapman lined an opposite-field home run, and lining up next to him on the left side of the infield, Nick Ahmed started a double play that helped Webb limit the damage in the second inning to one run. Mike Yastrzemski nabbed a runner at the plate with a rope from right field and contributed a pair of hits.
Despite falling into a 9-0 hole in the first inning, growing to 10-0 before they came to bat in the second, the Giants came all the way back to win, 13-12.
“I was excited to be out there with them and I just completely ruined the excitement with that first inning, which kind of sucked,” Webb said. “But they have my back. They know what I’m capable of.”
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Giants (SS) 7, Cubs (SS) 3
At Sloan Park in Mesa, Keaton Winn tossed four innings of one-run ball while issuing one walk and allowing three hits in a good sign for his availability to start the season. Winn was making his second start of the spring after being slowed by elbow soreness and is only expected to be stretched out to 75 to 80 pitches by his first regular season start.
Catcher Joey Bart left the game after one at-bat with tightness in his right hamstring. If he is placed on the injured list, that is one way for the Giants to delay his roster decision, unlikely to make the Giants’ 26-man group but unable to be sent to the minors without passing through waivers.
Outfielder Luis Matos, now an option for the Opening Day roster with Austin Slater’s status in question, reached base three times and scored a run, while shortstop Marco Luciano continued his tear to end camp, hitting a double and working three walks while scoring twice.