The Art of the Disappearing Pitch

Apr 14, 2022 | 2022 Season, Latest Post

by
Greek Giant

The Giants had four hits in yesterday’s series finale against the Padres. They also won the game, 2-1. Pitching, Pitching, Pitching. One cannot say it enough. Thanks to a stellar outing by Logan Webb who went 8 strong innings with only a couple hard hit baseballs coming from pitches he threw against a solid Padres team, the Giants were able to squeak out the win that gave them two of three games in the series and a 4-2 homestand to start the season.

In his breakout season of 2021 Webb was scintilating but he never went eight full innings like he did yesterday.

Webb was so strong at one point that he retired 22 of the final 24 batters he faced after his first inning hiccup. His sinker/splitter was just unhittable, particularly because it looks just like a straight fastball coming out of his hand. Then it magically disappears into the catcher’s mitt, which belonged to Curt Casali on this afternoon. On the day Webb would toss seven strikeouts, zero walks and allow only four hits against the lone run.

Padres Manager Bob Melvin commented on Webb’s performance on the mound:

“He was fantastic. He’s a No. 1 starter for a reason on a really good team. He’s got a really good sinker, really good changeup off that and a good breaking ball. Once he got past the first inning he really got into a rhythm.”

Logan’s run continues.

He is the Ace for a reason.

Remember when Webb was on the fringe of the Giants roster around the beginning of 2021 or late 2020? Remember when there were whispers he was headed to the bullpen? I do to.

Here is Grant Brisbee on Webb’s progress from fringe pitcher to undisputed Ace:

“Webb went from “Hey, maybe when he comes back, he can be a reliever” to “unquestioned ace” in about 10 starts. It’s tempting to turn this into a lesson about how quickly perceptions can change, except we shouldn’t get into the habit of thinking this is normal. It’s exceptionally, unambiguously abnormal. And even though it’s my literal job to think about the Giants for eight to 10 hours every day, at one point I snapped and screamed, “WAIT, WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?”

The Giants runs came off one swing of the bat from New San Franciscan Luke Williams, who was playing third base. His two-run double in the bottom of the second answered the run the Padres scored in the top of the first. That would be all the scoring for the game thanks to a stress-free ninth pitched by Camilo Doval (NOT) who picked up the save after allowing a single, a walk and hitting a batter, all with two outs. It was a performance straight out of the Brian Wilson Closers Academy.

Peace Out

Antoan Richardson and Mike Shildt met before yesterday’s game to make piece. That’s good news.