LOS ANGELES -- Giants ace Logan Webb has been the most durable pitcher in baseball in recent years, but his 2026 campaign will be cut short due to injury.
Webb landed on the 15-day injured list with a right middle finger blister on Friday, bringing an end to an uneven season for the three-time All-Star.
The 29-year-old right-hander had been in line to make two more starts this year, but the Giants decided to shut him down after he gave up six runs over five innings in his last start against the Padres on Sunday. Webb had struggled to a 9.55 ERA over his previous five outings, which left him with a 4.31 ERA over 27 starts, his highest mark since his rookie season (5.47 ERA) for the Giants in 2020.
“I know his standards are so high, so there's frustration,” manager Tony Vitello said. “But I think the frustration stems from, or is directed at, a small amount of outings. Because if you look at the ones that were good, they were exceptional. No one's perfect, but they were kind of standard Logan Webb.
“The thing for him was just the frustration of, ‘Man, what's popping up in these outings?’ And part of it was battling physical health. But you're never going to be at 100%. There's a couple other things he had mentioned, but I think, at the end of the day, it's motivation for next year.”
The Giants also placed infielder Nate Furman on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain. Outfielder Victor Bericoto was reinstated from the IL after completing his rehab from a right knee injury, and right-hander Duncan Davitt was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento in a pair of corresponding moves.
It’s the second IL stint of the year for Webb, who also missed three weeks with right knee bursitis in May. Webb said his knee hasn’t been an issue since he received a cortisone shot to help alleviate inflammation in the joint, but he felt the finger blister pop up when he was playing catch earlier this week.
With the Giants out of contention, he decided it was best not to push it, especially since he got an early start to the year by pitching in the World Baseball Classic in March. He finished the year with 160 2/3 innings, snapping his streak of three consecutive 200-inning campaigns for the Giants.
“It's been a weird season,” Webb said. “It's been very up and down. I think as a team in general, but for myself, especially. It's been either really good or really bad. There's been way too many bad ones. I feel like earlier this year, I had a couple good ones and then I got hurt. Then I tried pitching through it and made it worse. I came back and was good. It's just been an uphill battle all season. It's been frustrating.”
Webb said he hopes beginning his offseason a little early will give his body more time to recover and set him up to come back even stronger in 2027.
“That'll be the key,” Webb said. “I'm kind of starting it today, so I’m getting a little bit of a head start. And just kind of go back and watch why things went the way they did. I feel like if you look at most of the outings, it's more an inning than it is a full game of not pitching well. So just go back and maybe find some things I was doing wrong. I've already started to do that a little bit. But I'm going to put my head down and come back next year with hopes of being an even better version of myself from the past.”
Webb is signed through 2028, so the Giants will be counting on him to anchor their starting rotation alongside fellow righty Landen Roupp next season.
Hayden Birdsong, Trevor McDonald and Carson Whisenhunt are expected to miss most of next year while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but Webb said he’s been encouraged by what he’s seen from other young pitchers like Blade Tidwell, Anthony Molina and Cesar Perdomo. He’s also keeping tabs on 2026 first-round Draft pick Jackson Flora, who might not be that far away after dominating in his Double-A debut on Thursday.
The Giants have reached the playoffs only once in Webb’s first eight big league seasons, but he believes they still have enough talent to return to contention in the coming years, especially since they’ll have key veterans like Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames back in the fold in ‘27.
“I think anything can happen,” Webb said. “If you look around baseball, there are some teams that are surprising some people this year. … The Cardinals were not supposed to be a great team this year, and that's a tough lineup. They’ve got good pitching. It's a quick turnaround. Look at the White Sox; they lost, what, 120 games two years ago, and I think they're fighting for a playoff spot. I don't know if they clinched or not, but it can be quick.”