Giants ace Logan Webb only has one goal in mind as 2026 MLB season begins

SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a good debate to be had about the magnitude of Logan Webb’s start in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals earlier this month. Given that Webb was pitching for Team USA, some have made the argument that it was the biggest start of his career. You could also very easily place it third, behind his two NLCS starts in 2021, or fourth, trailing also his Game 162 masterpiece that allowed the Giants to clinch the NL West title that year. Realistically, the conversation probably starts with the quarterfinal ranking second at best given that his Game 5 start in 2021 was a must-win game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Regardless, it’s a fun discussion to have, and it leads to two greater points. First, there’s no doubt that Webb consistently rises to meet the moment. If you combine his two WBC starts with the division clincher in 2021 and that season’s postseason, Webb has a 1.78 ERA with 36 strikeouts across 30 1/3 innings in his five biggest starts. Oh, and he also hit a homer on the final day of the 2021 MLB season.The second thing that comes to mind is less positive. When Webb took the mound in Houston for that quarterfinal, it was his first must-win appearance in more than four years. Webb is the game’s most durable starter, a two-time MLB All-Star, a perennial Cy Young candidate, and most recently a member of the WBC all-tournament team. But when he sat down with NBC Sports Bay Area this spring and talked about his goals for 2026, there really was only one thing on his mind. “I just want to win,” he said on Wednesday’s “Giants Talk” podcast. “I understand that’s kind of cliche to say but you guys have been around me enough — that’s really how I feel … I would take a World Series championship over a Cy Young any day, that’s number one and that’s the goal every single year. I grew up in Sacramento — I wasn’t necessarily a Giants fan and I apologize all the time about that, but I wasn’t — and I was in high school when they won in ’10 and ’12, and in ’14 I was part of the Giants and there’s a way about how those guys did things.“We’ve just kind of struggled, honestly, since 2014. I think we’ve made the playoffs twice. I wasn’t a part of some of those teams, so I’m not talking bad about that, but we’ve got to get back to (winning) and that’s just the way it should be. The Giants are a storied franchise, one of the best franchises not only in baseball but in sports, and we should expect to win every year.”A year ago, sitting down for a similar interview, Webb said he wanted to join the 200-strikeout club for the first time. He then went out and led the National League, and he also won a Gold Glove Award, his first. Webb’s 2025 season was more inconsistent than he would have liked, but the end result was the same. He led the majors with 34 starts and won the innings title for a second time in three seasons. For a second straight year, he faced the most batters in all of MLB, and he finished with a 3.22 ERA and 2.60 FIP, the best mark of his career. He ranked third in the NL with 5.5 Wins Above Replacement. The number that stuck with him, though, was 81-81. Webb has been a big leaguer since 2019 and a rotation anchor since 2021. Last season was the sixth time in his seven seasons that the Giants failed to post a winning record. During the first week of camp this year, Webb smiled and shook his head as he noted this is his 13th season as a professional. The Giants drafted him out of Rocklin High in 2014 and a few months later won a third title in five years. That’s what Webb hoped was in his future, but instead he has become the face of the franchise at a time when the Giants have gone through endless changes. On Wednesday night, Webb will make his fifth consecutive Opening Day start, joining Juan Marichal as the only San Francisco Giants with a streak that long. The honor has been given to him by three different managers, and before the trio of Gabe Kapler, Bob Melvin and Tony Vitello, Webb played for Bruce Bochy. He also is on his third different front office. The hope for stability now is in the hands of a man who has never done this before at a professional level. But Webb believes Vitello’s intensity might help ward off the midseason slumps that have knocked the Giants out of contention over and over again in recent years. “If we need a kick in our ass every once in a while, he’s going to be the first person to do that and I think that’s a good thing,” Webb said on “Giants Talk.” “You need that, and I think the best teams do that.”The Giants are confident Vitello, unlike the two previous managers, will be here for the long haul, but there’s some urgency to figure all this out. The position player core is on the older side, and Robbie Ray is in the final year of his contract. Even Webb will turn 30 this year, and it’s always worth remembering that his extension only goes through 2028.Webb watched co-ace Carlos Rodón sign a &dollar;162 million contract a few years ago, and Blake Snell departed for &dollar;182 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers. That got Snell back in the World Series, and he and Webb kept in touch throughout. Webb viewed those games with a familiar feeling: “Man, I wish I was out there.”A lot would need to go right for the Giants to seriously compete for the division title, but they have the lineup and the top of the rotation to get back to the postseason. As another Opening Day approached, that was all that was on Webb’s mind. “I’m sick of being .500,” he said. “I don’t want to lose. I promise all the fans and everyone, I care just as much as you guys do, probably more. It’s the same in the clubhouse. All the guys feel that way. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to go out and do it.”Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Giants ace Logan Webb only has one goal in mind as 2026 MLB season begins

Trending News