SF Giants rotation ace making a bid for another All-Star nod and more

SF Giants rotation ace Logan Webb completed eight strong innings against a good A's lineup on Friday. He has not only positioned himself to return to the All-Star game in July, but he is pitching like one of the best pitchers in the NL right now.

SF Giants rotation ace making a bid for another All-Star nod and more

While Webb had a dominant night against the A's, he may have been overshadowed by a teammate. Wilmer Flores blasted three home runs while adding eight RBI in a 9-1 victory. Nevertheless, Webb was excellent, allowing one earned run with two walks, four strikeouts, and 17 ground outs.

If the All-Star selection was today, it would be an easy call for Webb to make the team. Perhaps, an argument could even be made for him to start the game. It might be too early for this type of discussion, but I am using this to highlight how good he has been.

The veteran pitcher continues to be a workhorse, leading baseball with 63.1 frames this year. His 2.42 ERA is fourth among qualified NL starters, but you could make the argument that he has pitched even better than that.

Webb has recorded a 2.10 FIP and 2.44 xFIP, both of which lead the NL. Plus, he leads all NL pitchers with 2.1 wins above replacement according to Fangraphs.

While Webb continues to be excellent at inducing ground-ball contact with a 59.0 percent ground-ball rate, he has seen a sharp spike in his strikeout rate to 9.8 K/9, up from his career mark of 8.2 K/9. This is due to a change in pitch mix. The seven-year veteran is favoring his sweeper more than he did last year while seeing a corresponding decrease in his changeup usage.

The sweeper has been effective at missing bats, as it has generated a 30.2 percent whiff rate. However, the changeup has seen a nice bump in whiff rate to 34.3 percent this year. The cause is likely due to having more downward, fading movement than it did last year.

So, while Webb has positioned himself to an All-Star nod this season, he could be pushing for more. I do not like identifying awards frontrunners this early in the year. There is still a lot of season left to be played. However, the Giants' workhorse has pitched like one of the best starters in baseball this year, and the argument could be made that he has been the best starter in the NL through the first 45 games of the year.