BOSTON -- Logan Webb’s April ended nearly the same way it began. Unfortunately for him and the Giants, the right-hander’s starts to bookend the month marked two of his worst in 2024.
In Tuesday night’s series opener at Fenway Park, Webb couldn't make it out of the fourth inning for the second time this season, giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks in the Giants’ 4-0 loss to the Red Sox. The line nearly mirrored Webb’s April 2 start against the Dodgers, when he was tagged for five runs on seven hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings.
“I mean, it’s really odd when you see something like that,” manager Bob Melvin said. “At the end of the day, he’s still got a 2.98 ERA after a game like that. He was able to get some outs when he needed to. Didn’t look great, the line, but they had 17 opportunities with runners in scoring position, so he got some guys out at certain times.”
As for what happened in between these two outings? Webb pitched to a 0.93 ERA (three runs over 29 innings) across four starts. He held a 19-inning scoreless streak that spanned from the fourth inning of the Giants’ win over the Rays on April 13 through his start against the Mets on April 23.
With Tuesday marking the first time since 2021 that Webb hasn’t made it out of the fourth twice in a season, here’s a look at what went wrong in an uncharacteristic start.
Hitters’ counts
Webb fell behind from his first pitch, opening the game with a ball before giving up a single to leadoff hitter Jarren Duran. Of the 22 batters he faced, Webb threw a first-pitch strike to just 10 and walked three batters for the first time since May 14, 2023.
“First-pitch strikes, unlike him. Not getting ahead, pitching from behind. Walked a few guys, gave up a lot of hits,” Melvin said. “Just out of sync. Missing by wide margins at times, which you never see with him.”
Known for his dependability as an innings-eater, Webb has gone at least five frames in all but three of his past 42 starts dating back to Sept. 21, 2022. Webb was one of five pitchers to record 200-plus innings last season with a career-high 216, falling just shy of the benchmark in ‘22 with 192 1/3 frames.
Webb logged 106 and 102 pitches in his past two starts, going eight and seven innings, respectively. He had thrown 55 through the first two innings on Tuesday, finishing the night with 91.
“Obviously, I threw a lot of pitches those first two innings,” Webb said. “... You throw that many pitches, you’re going to be a little tired. So I felt that a little bit and [was] kind of searching, searching for answers. I think I was 1-0, 2-0 pretty much every single hitter tonight, and that’s not a very good recipe for success. And I tip my cap to those guys.”
Trouble with the change
A changeup-sinker pitcher, Webb relied heavily on his change in his eight scoreless innings against the Mets last time out. He threw the pitch 49 times, generating 35 swings and 13 whiffs. Webb went to his changeup 39 times against Boston, generating just three whiffs.
The final batter Webb faced on Tuesday was Wilyer Abreu, who hit a 1-0 changeup to right for a triple that came off the bat at a Statcast projected 114.4 mph -- the second-hardest hit ball in play against Webb in his career.
“I thought the changeup was pretty bad,” Webb said. “It was either up for a strike or they could sit on it and go the other way or it was a noncompetitive pitch. It was just one of those nights, wasn’t very good.”
Unlucky spots
Webb entered Tuesday with the fourth-highest ground-ball rate (59.7 percent) among 76 qualified starters. While nine of his 15 batted balls against Boston were grounders, just four resulted in outs (44.4 percent) compared to his season rate of 85.9 percent.
Some bad luck? Sure. But Webb also allowed 12 hard-hit batted balls, which was the most of any of his starts this season.
“Well, that’s what happens when he gets hit, a lot of times it’s just ground balls that find some holes,” Melvin said. “But I mean, at the end of the day, I wouldn’t say that it was his best command today.”