Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Logan Webb is back in Sacramento, but not for the reason he dreaded.
He has not started the season in Triple-A, having lost out on the fifth and final rotation spot. He is not mired in the minors carefully stretching his arm out to preserve an innings total the Giants are weary about, after the rising prospect threw just 103 all of last season.
No, the righty is back home in Sacramento and living with his parents, trying to stay ready while the world and Major League Baseball seek a way out from the coronavirus. The film he’s tearing through, too, is not his usual fare.
“I’m a big, big Marvel guy. I’ve seen every single movie,” the righty said over the phone recently. “So my parents have only seen a couple of them. So we decided to start from the very beginning and watch every single one in order. We’ve been doing that and we’re on the last two [“Infinity War” and “Endgame”] right now.”
There are bright sides to a baseball-less life in May for a 23-year-old whose mother is a small-business owner.
“It really sucks for her, but she was saying the other day: The one positive out of this is that I am home longer than I have been in a long time,” said Webb, who had spent much of his offseason with Giants coaches in Arizona. “So it’s nice being with them, and being able to see family’s just a big thing. That’s kind of why my fiancee wanted to come back, so we can be with them during this during this time.”
Webb left Scottsdale shortly after camp broke out March 16. Seven weeks later, he’s still waiting for direction, waiting for his phone to buzz and let him know where to be and when. Just like everyone else, he’s in an unfamiliar position and exploring ways to stay in shape. He’s been able to get into his fiancee’s gym to lift, and his own has been letting athletes trickle in.
Colorado catcher Dom Nunez is nearby to catch bullpen sessions. Pittsburgh’s Nick Mears is nearby and meets Webb at a park for catches (which should be a nice sight for passers-by).
He’s been able to stay as close to ready as possible, recently telling pitching coach Andrew Bailey he feels he could throw two or three innings right now. If there is a season, he will have some time to ramp up; he no longer will need the kid gloves that he begrudgingly would have slid on in a normal season.
Webb was not thrilled at the prospect of the Giants curtailing his workload. While he was in the mix for the No. 5 spot that had belonged to Tyler Beede, there was a solid chance he would have had to wait a while to claim it.
He gets it, saying he knows the plan would have been the best for him and the team, but is clearly relieved that if the baseball season fires up, he won’t have to keep tapping the brakes.
“Definitely the competitive part of me wants to be able to throw nine innings every five days,” said Webb, who was up and down in eight starts last year. “I think that’s what every starting pitcher wants to do, and being the competitor I am, I know myself and I know I want to do that.”
He sounds ready for baseball to begin, even if he has no idea what form it would take, even if so much of his time is spent rewatching “Black Panther.”
He keeps a log on an app the Giants use — how much he threw, what his weight training was, how he conditioned — and he waits, knowing if he starts, he won’t have to wait again this season.