Another blow-up outing may force SF Giants to reevaluate Logan Webb stance in offseason

While everyone expected a pitchers’ duel on Tuesday night between Logan Webb and Paul Skenes as the SF Giants went into Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates, it was anything but that. Neither starter made it through five innings and the Giants lost 13-12 in heartbreaking fashion even though they mounted an admirable comeback.

Webb had arguably the worst start of his big league career. He gave up nine earned runs and failed to record an out in the third inning as he got pulled from the game. It would be one thing if this was an isolated start, but it’s not. This comes just over a week after Webb got absolutely shellacked against the Boston Red Sox.

On August 21 at Fenway Park, Webb also failed to get out of the third inning as he pitched 2 and 2/3 innings while giving up five earned runs. What’s really concerning about both outings is the uncharacteristic lack of command. He issued three walks and hit two batters in Boston and walked two and hit two batters against the Pirates.

This is a Webb we really are not accustomed to seeing and it makes one wonder if the Giants are going to have to reevaluate things with Webb in the offseason.

Buster Posey and the Giants made it very clear that Webb was not available at the trade deadline. Teams reportedly called asking about him but the Giants did not engage. That makes sense since Webb is the team’s clear ace and an undisputed leader in the clubhouse, but in the offseason perhaps the Giants have to at least open themselves up to the possibility that they could trade Webb. This doesn’t necessarily mean they should be actively shopping him, but if teams come calling Posey should at least listen and think about it if he receives a strong offer.

Webb is going to be 30 years old next season. The Giants are very familiar with their homegrown aces having pretty precipitous declines once they hit their thirties. By the time Tim Lincecum hit 30 his decline had already begun and he was a shell of his former Cy Young self. When Matt Cain hit 30 he never had an ERA under 5.00 again. The Giants let Madison Bumgarner depart in free agency when he was 30 and he went on to have a dreadful tenure with the Arizona Diamondbacks. None of them pitched past their age 33 season.

Logan Webb won't be an ace for the Giants forever

For a while now, we’ve been spoiled by Webb. Year after year he’s been supremely solid, delivering over 200 innings or more while hardly ever missing a start. It was easy to just sort of think he could do that forever but pitchers don’t really work that way.

Now the Giants have to think about whether the 2026 season for Webb, in which he has a 4.21 ERA, his worst since 2020, and a career-low 7.2 K/9 rate, is the beginning of a decline or if it is just a blip that can be explained away by his participation in the World Baseball Classic or a knee injury that landed him on the IL earlier in the year. The Giants must ask themselves the same thing with another fan-favorite, Jung Hoo Lee, after his recent struggles.

We know the Giants don’t want to blow things up entirely, but they at least have to consider the possibility of trading a guy like Webb so they aren’t stuck with him as he declines. Maybe these two starts in Boston and Pittsburgh are just weird outliers and Webb goes back to being his usual self, but there’s a chance we look back and realize that these were huge glaring warning signs that the Giants chose to ignore.

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