Jason Vosler – Sports Radio Service

By Morris Phillips

Among Gabe Kapler’s biggest tenets is protecting his Giants starting pitchers, knowing their importance to the teams’ success, as well as the industry-wide competition to secure and retain their services.

Logan Webb received Kapler’s grand treatment on Wednesday night, but not in the manner one might expect.

After retiring 16 of the first 17 batters he faced, Webb allowed his first hit, a one-out single to Sean Bouchard in the sixth. Kapler then shot out of the dugout and removed his 25-year old ace after throwing 66 pitches.

Kapler did what? Well, there are two, obvious metrics: the Giants began the night 31 games out of first place in the NL West with 14 games remaining, and Webb has thrown a career-high 181 1/3 innings this season. Decision made.

“We didn’t have any plans of letting him get a sixth up in this game, so even giving him that sixth up was a diversion from the game plan,” Kapler said. “So good for Logan. He pitched his ass off and was absolutely excellent tonight.

“At this point we’re managing 2022 and ‘23 and beyond,”

Webb has a significant stack of achievements over this season and last, enough to establish himself as the organization’s most prominent player going forward. But he’s never thrown a no-no or a complete game. That’s just how the game works these days at a position where the elite command $20 million a year, and arm trouble is always a concern. Given that, Webb didn’t fuss and was quite pragmatic about the situation.

“I want to throw 200 innings for the next 10 years, not just this year,” he said.

In an interesting bit of foreshadowing, Webb recounted a conversation with his father and teammate Tyler Rogers before the game in which they implored Webb to test his workload restriction by throwing no-hit ball through five innings. Again, Webb’s reaction was tinged with pragmatism.

“It’s Coors Field,” Webb said. “I’m going to give up a hit.”

While Webb dealt, the Giants’ hitters followed the typical Coors’ script, pounding out 15 hits in a 6-1 win that followed a 65-minute rain delay before the first pitch.

Immediately, Coors things were happening when a potential inning-ending double play turned into the Giants’ first run as first baseman C.J. Cron’s glove unraveled, allowing the relay throw from second base to pass right through the glove’s webbing. Lamonte Wade Jr. scored from third on the play and the Giants held a 1-0, first inning lead.

“The laces just ripped in two spots,” Cron said.

The Giants went on to score two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the ninth inning to build a 6-0 lead. A rare Coors Field shutout was derailed in the bottom of the ninth when Elehuris Montero homered off Thomas Szapucki, the fourth Giants’ reliever in support of Webb.

The Giants go for the four-game sweep on Thursday afternoon with John Brebbia in the openers’ role. Recent acquisition Jharell Cotton, the former A’s starter, is expected to assume the bulk innings role following Brebbia. Jose Urena is the announced starter for the Rockies.

REMEMBER KRIS BRYANT?: A year ago the Giants’ drew considerable praise for their trade deadline acquisition of Kris Bryant from the Cubs. The 6’5″ Bryant was the second overall pick in the 2013 Draft and went on to be a centerpiece of the Cubs drive to winning the 2016 World Series. But when the Cubs declined in 2021, Bryant was made available via trade with value as a slugger along with being a versatile defender with an expiring contract.

After a fast start with the Giants, the warts in Bryant’s game began to show and he found himself more and more frequently out of Gabe Kapler’s starting lineup as the Giants raced to the NL West title. In the off-season, the Giants faced a difficult choice to resign the 30-year old Bryant to a pricey, multi-year deal. When the Giants declined, the Rockies stepped up with a 7-year, $182 million deal that didn’t figure to age well given Bryant’s age and his steady decline in production following the 2016 season.

The Giants appear to have made the right choice after the Rockies announced that Bryant will rejoin the Rockies for their final road trip, but he has not sufficiently recovered from a foot injury to resume his third base duties. If Bryant fails to return to the field, his first-year in Colorado will end with a stat line of .306 with 5 home runs, 14 RBI in just 42 games as he spent time on the injured list with back issues followed by foot issues.

By Morris Phillips

Who saw this coming?

The Giants (37-22) have the best record in MLB, the most road wins of any National League Club by a clear margin, and they’re atop the standings in the most challenging division in baseball, despite the heavy presence of the World Champion Dodgers and the loaded San Diego Padres.

They also have a boatload of injuries, a gaping hole in their rotation, and a clear need for bullpen upgrades that dates back to the season’s inception and spring training. So what do they do to keep this freight train moving?

Well, cross their fingers for one. The latest news is the toughest, as Evan Longoria has landed on the disabled list and is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a shoulder sprain after his collision with Brandon Crawford on Saturday. Manager Gabe Kapler acknowledged this may be more than just “next man up” with Longo’s absence.

“He was swinging the bat very well,” Kapler said. “He was very patient at the plate, playing great defense. He’s one of the core pieces and leaders on this club. It’s going to be a major challenge to fill his shoes. I’m not sure we’re going to have anybody step right in and do what he was doing. At the same time, we have to turn the page and get ready to compete.”

So there you go from Kapler’s words: take a deep breath, and get ready to compete on Tuesday at Arlington, Texas against the Rangers. All the blanks will be filled in prior to first pitch.

Good news? The Giants next to opponents are struggling. The Rangers are on pace to lose 100 games, and the Nationals have seen injuries and poor play land them near the bottom of the NL East. In the absence of any assurances, the Giants approach will be to take advantage of those two first. Helping that cause, first baseman Brandon Belt is expected to come off the injured list and resume his spot at first base during the week long trip.

The methodology stays the same: the Giants have hit 85 home runs in 59 games, second best in baseball, and they’ve made those homers count by maintaining a 3.30 ERA that’s kept their games close, low scoring and prime to be affected by a timely home run or two.

Yes, one or two. The Giants just ended a stretch over the weekend in which they hit multiple home runs in eight of nine games. The first six games established a stretch that hadn’t been done since 2001, when Barry Bonds was resetting the season-long home run market with a record 73. Also, the team batting average which was abysmal earlier has ascended to .235, just off the MLB average of .237. Along with the homers, and the walks drawn (235 thus far, nearly four walks drawn per game) the Giants need to hit more consistently to withstand the NL’s best starting pitchers, several of whom reside in their division.

To keep that process moving in Longoria’s absence, Donovan Solano, Mauricio Dubon, Lemonte Wade Jr. and Alex Dickerson are the likeliest names to pick up their offense. Belt’s return will help as well with the hope that Crawford and Buster Posey maintain their strokes that have the veteran pair among the league leaders in several categories.

The other major question is who will join Kevin Gausman, Johnny Cueto, Alex Wood and Anthony Desclafani in the team’s rotation? Scott Kazmir, who made two starts, and Logan Webb are out of the mix with Webb injured and the 37-year old Kazmir designated for assignment over the weekend. The Giants are scheduled for play on 13 consecutive dates starting Tuesday so temporarily shortening the rotation won’t be an option. Another arm will have to deployed.

On Tuesday, the Giants have Alex Wood scheduled to face the Rangers” Jordan Lyles. Wood is looking for a bounce back after getting tagged with losses in each of his last three appearances after a 5-0 start to the season. Lyles faced the Giants at Oracle Park on May 11 and took the loss, part of a stretch where Lyles has lost four of his last five decisions over his most recent nine starts.