Splash Hit Territory: Giants ace Logan Webb dishes on Gold Glove, Tony Vitello, Justin Verlander

00:00:07
Speaker 1: All right, splash It Podcast.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: It's our third show.

00:00:11
Speaker 1: I'm fp Santangela, washed up has been Giant, current Giant. Broadcaster Susan Sluster for The Chronicle is a frequent guest on the show, but today it's all about our special guest. He's going to join us for the first half of the show. He is a gold Glove winner and the Giants a slogan web webby. Thanks for coming on, Mat, How you doing.

00:00:30
Speaker 3: I'm doing good. Thanks for having me.

00:00:32
Speaker 1: I mean, tell us about the gold Glove. That's pretty cool and how that came into fruition and the award itself. I think it's the coolest trophy in all the baseball besides the big one that's right there in the clubhouse when you walk on the right. But talk about winning the gold.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: Glove, Yeah, it was definitely something I you know, I didn't I wanted to get better on defense.

00:00:52
Speaker 3: I didn't necessarily want to.

00:00:54
Speaker 2: It wasn't It wasn't like gold Glove or bust, right, And I think that's Patty's goal. I think now that he's you know, done it a couple of times, and but I just wanted to kind of get better at defense. I felt like, especially holding runners.

00:01:10
Speaker 3: I didn't know that was that big of a part of it, but it was.

00:01:14
Speaker 2: And I just wanted to put the team, honestly, in a better position. I think I was hurting myself and and the team by, you know, letting guys run all over me. And I just I wanted to get better at it. And uh, you know, it's an honor to win it. It's really cool that, you know. I didn't know until I got on that interview a week or two ago when they said we're the first one since Wayne Wright and YACHTI. I feel like anytime you're in a conversation with with those two guys, it's, uh, it's really special. And uh yeah, I got to go to the ceremony in New York. They put on an amazing event at the Plaza. Got to meet a bunch of cool guys and and people there, and yeah, the award is is really cool. I don't get to see mine until next year when they I finally get to go out there with the other guys and accept it during.

00:02:07
Speaker 3: Before one of the games.

00:02:08
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know, I I got to when if you saw the video meets seeing the glove for the first time.

00:02:15
Speaker 3: But it was.

00:02:15
Speaker 2: It was really cool and uh happy I can share, especially with Patty too. You know, he's one of the best defenders in baseball, if not the best if you look at metrics and other other stuff.

00:02:28
Speaker 3: But being able to say I can do it with him was was awesome.

00:02:32
Speaker 4: Look, you and I, You and you and I talked a lot about, especially early in the season, about the work you were doing about holding runners. How did somebody help you with that? Like, was there were there any real keys for you for that, because you I'm sure you know, but like by the mid middle of the season, you were so far in front of the other pitchers in terms of all the metrics on holding runners. It was outrageous and it was it just took like kind of the off season and in the start of the season working on it. So that was really incredible.

00:03:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it Uh it started honestly the year before, which is funny because I was like the third worst defender at the pitcher position. But we were trying to work on some different things and it just had a bad spring. I was trying to be quick. I was trying to and Bomo was like, you know, don't worry about that. We want you to make your pitches. And it didn't hurt necessarily that much, but I felt like I just I think the Cardinal Game, I told you guys, the Cardinal Game the year before was really tough. Thankfully, I had a guy over there that I knew, mister Brandon Uh, that was like, hey, you gotta clean some of this stuff up, and.

00:03:54
Speaker 3: I did you know. I worked on it. I tried to get better.

00:03:57
Speaker 2: I definitely had some I mean, the game nowadays it's it goes off of tips and and crazy enough. I mean, I didn't know it. I was always would always wonder why guys would steal on me so easily. But there's tips, there's tips that involve that. There's cameras everywhere now so I was just kind of doing some some stuff that would keep the same rhythm, the same taps, you know. I I know, you watch Gosman throw. You got a bunch of the leg taps, and I kind of probably watched them and started doing it, and I realized I was at that point tip in a little bit. Guys would know when I was going home. So a lot of people JP Boumel Rhyano, Matt William, Mark Halber. I mean it was a whole group. Garvin Alston. I, I really I would try my best. And in bullpens, you know, when you first show up, you're throwing pens and a lot of the times you're just trying.

00:04:56
Speaker 3: To get a good feel for stuff.

00:04:58
Speaker 2: And I would ask them and put the clock out there and see if I can try to hold a little bit better and you know, be a little quicker. And I think once I think I got into a game, and uh, I know in spring training everyone tries to steal and h the first couple of games, I was just trying to be a little quicker. I was trying to be try some different things with the clock and you know, change the tempo a little bit. And it was working. And I don't think I had a stolen base attempt in spring, which was I was like, maybe I'm doing something right.

00:05:33
Speaker 3: So I just try to keep it going well.

00:05:35
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, you're being modest right now. I mean you you have made the improvements in holding runners, but you're also an athlete out there, and you know in the clubhouse and pitchers aren't athletes.

00:05:44
Speaker 2: We go back and forth all the time.

00:05:45
Speaker 1: But if you're a high school quarterback and all the plays you made, the one that stands out to me this year. There were some cool ones, but getting over on the double play against the Dodgers and the emotion you showed after touching the base. I mean, you've had the diving plays where you dive at first base, but like, I think you're selling yourself a little bit short. It's not just about holding runners like you're an athlete out there when you pitched.

00:06:03
Speaker 2: I try to be you know, it is the the joke in the clubhouse that pitchers aren't athletes. And to be honest, when you look at most pictures run and then you look at some of these guys run, it's it's it holds some truth. But yeah, I think, especially because I get so many grund balls, I feel like I have to be.

00:06:23
Speaker 3: You know able.

00:06:24
Speaker 2: I wanted to get better at catching balls too.

00:06:27
Speaker 3: I know there's a lot of.

00:06:28
Speaker 2: Times when you know, there's a lot of balls hit harder, especially right back at me, so I gotta be good at that. And then the getting over part. I wasn't great at that. I mean, there's just so many parts that I felt like I needed to be better at to help the team out, you know, not getting you know, a ball hits gets hit the first I gotta get over If I'm late, not only is that hurting you know, the team, but it's also hurting yourself, but by not getting the double play to get out of the inning.

00:06:54
Speaker 3: So I just wanted to.

00:06:57
Speaker 2: I just felt like.

00:06:58
Speaker 3: I needed to in all those parts of the game. I need to get better.

00:07:02
Speaker 4: At Yeah, you're keeping a lot more double plays in line too, with coldon the runners. Yeah, yeah, like and every way, and you're getting over to first better to complete the back end of some of those.

00:07:11
Speaker 2: Double place Yeah, and I together perfect. Well, that's what kind of JP said at the end of last year. He's like, Hey, if we just get better at this, you might have I don't know, eight eight to ten less runs at the end of the season. And you know that's a you know, that's a big part of your like not only for the team, but like your e RA and some other stuff, and like, why don't we just try to clean up a little bit? And I think at the end of the year, JP kind of showed me a stat. And I don't know how all the analysts do all this stuff, but they can figure out, like if you didn't let them steal the base. You've saved this many runs and I you know, saved a decent amount of runs. So that's what the name the name of the game is. Just trying to keep the team in the game as long as possible. And if I'm you know, being a dumbass out there and giving up a stolen base, because I'm you know, I feel bad about it. So, like I said, trying to get better for for all those guys.

00:08:10
Speaker 3: And you got Patty.

00:08:11
Speaker 2: Behind the plate, so give him a chance to throw the guy out.

00:08:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you talk about that.

00:08:16
Speaker 1: I mean you could have won a Silver Slugger Award too, if that was still an award for pitchers, you might have won that too. But we got to get to the off season news. Tony Vitello, he's he's your new manager. What are your impressions. When was the first time you met? What can you share with us about your new skipper and how you feel about that whole thing.

00:08:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I knew about it a little bit. I knew we were talking to him, and then I think I knew a couple of days early, and then.

00:08:44
Speaker 3: I reached out to him.

00:08:45
Speaker 2: We texted a little back and forth, and I was in Nashville actually this last week for a wedding and I got to meet him in person, which was awesome. He's gonna bring a lot of enthusiasm, you know. He's uh, you know, a Brillian and I think baseball guy, and he just wants I think the big thing for for him and I think something that is going to be great for us. He just wants everyone on the same page, like this is this is what we're.

00:09:11
Speaker 3: Trying to do. The main goal is to win at all.

00:09:14
Speaker 2: Costs, and uh, I think it's gonna be great. I texted all the guys after where I was like, I don't know if anyone's met him, but I did get get to meet him, and I you know, I texted Chatie, Willie, I text all us saying, this guy's this guy is gonna be awesome and I can't I can't wait to work with him.

00:09:33
Speaker 4: When when you first when you first heard about it, Logan, was there any like like, I don't know thought in your mind like, well, you know, he hasn't had any pro experience of any kind, playing, coaching, managing. Uh, maybe there might be some veterans that might not totally be on board with That was that a concern, and do you do you feel like the personality and the experience and the success he's had at the level he as just like wipes any of that out.

00:09:57
Speaker 2: I really don't. I don't know how much much all that really matters, I think. I mean, there's people that are in the game for twenty years and they get a manager job and they don't do a good job.

00:10:11
Speaker 3: So it's it's all I think at the end of the day, like what.

00:10:15
Speaker 2: Tony wants, which is like the unity, the team part everything, everyone on the same page.

00:10:22
Speaker 3: I think that's I mean, that's the main thing.

00:10:24
Speaker 2: I think when you get you know, we're with each other for a long time, and there's times when you're sick of each other.

00:10:34
Speaker 3: You know, it's like I things aren't going well.

00:10:37
Speaker 2: There are a lot of lots of times this year where you know there's long stretches, right, we lose fourteen to fifteen at home, whatever the number was. I think at the end of the day, you find a guy like like Tony who is going to try to keep the room together and try to keep the everyone motivated. I I think the the big thing is like shortening though you're gonna have moments where you might I don't know what the number is, but I know the Dodgers at multiple times this year had times when.

00:11:06
Speaker 3: They things weren't going well. It happens. Like I said, it's a long season.

00:11:13
Speaker 2: But I think the teams that can keep those periods shorter than others.

00:11:18
Speaker 3: Are the teams that have success.

00:11:19
Speaker 2: And I think that's kind of the big thing that a guy with energy like that will will try to bring.

00:11:28
Speaker 1: Does Buster and Zach keep you in the loop on who the candidates are? Do they bounce it off maybe the core veteran players to see what they think and get your feelings on stuff.

00:11:38
Speaker 2: I mean a little bit. Yeah, you know, I talked to Buster at the end of the year. I talked to Zach at the end of the year. I didn't know any of that was gonna happen. They didn't tell me that, you know, Bomo would wouldn't be back. But you know, we talked about players. I think I think Buster and them do a good job keeping it like two positions like I can't tell you what a second baseman or you know, any position like I can.

00:12:05
Speaker 3: I can't tell you who's good and who's not.

00:12:07
Speaker 2: You know, I I don't really know, but I feel like they do a good job of asking about, Hey, how do you feel about this picture? Not as much as the old regime, I would say I definitely heard a lot more from those guys about things.

00:12:23
Speaker 3: I think Buster kind of likes to keep it to himself, which which is great.

00:12:28
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, it's not my job to get the guys or.

00:12:34
Speaker 3: I think. I just got to focus on myself.

00:12:36
Speaker 2: Try to get better in the offseason, and you know, try to win as many games as I can next year.

00:12:41
Speaker 4: Obviously there's some staff changes and JP and Garvin JPI leaving and Garvin's not coming back. How do you feel about those? Those are obviously the guys you worked most closely with, and you know that you'll be looking at a new pitching coach, assisting pitching coach or bullpenco whatever they call that position.

00:13:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:13:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been with j JP since twenty twenty one, so that's definitely gonna be kind of a change for me. You know, I've I've very close with JP. He's helped me a lot in a lot of different ways. I thought he did a great job last year. I thought Garvin did a great job last year. I've known Garvin for before he was with the Giants, so yeah, it's gonna be it'll be different. I'm excited for both of them wherever. I know JP's going to Atlanta. Uh, he gets to be back with Shortzy, which I'm excited for for him. And I know Antoine's over there too, so it'll be that'll be a good staff. And uh, I don't know where she's going yet, but I know whatever team that does get him is getting a great guy and a great pitching coach.

00:13:49
Speaker 3: So but yeah, excited to.

00:13:52
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm not, like I said, I'm not in the loop that much for all this stuff, so I don't know, but I'm sure. I'm sure Buster is gonna pick a great guy. I know Tony will pick a great guy. So excited to work with whoever. I think. I think too.

00:14:07
Speaker 3: It gets to the point where.

00:14:09
Speaker 2: You know, as a as a veteran guy, I don't need I'm not saying I don't need. I do need, but not as much as I did when I was younger. So really it's just getting on the same page with whoever they bring in.

00:14:22
Speaker 1: And that's what I was gonna ask you, Well, you can textbuster that you want Max Schurzer to be a giant. Nobody was gonna ask you that, like maybe a little bit deeper into like it's your eighth year in the big leagues, you're a salty veteran now, Like there's certain hitting coaches that spoke my love language, some that didn't, and when they don't, it's frustrating and you're just not speaking the same language. So at this point in your career, like you just said, kind of it's not that important, but you talked about JP and the holding the runners, and and it is.

00:14:52
Speaker 3: I'm okay, I'm gonna rephrase that.

00:14:53
Speaker 2: It is very important, Okay, I I.

00:14:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, So how important is it to you at this point in your career?

00:14:59
Speaker 2: This long winded question? I guess. I guess what I was kind of saying was more like the scouting part of it, like before a game. I think also too, with like catch play and bullpens, Like it's more I would say with the older guys, it's more like, hey, do you see anything, Like I'm throwing a bullpen.

00:15:22
Speaker 3: I know what I'm seeing, I know what I'm feeling.

00:15:25
Speaker 2: I'm to the point now where I feel like I can change on my own, like, I know that that's not right.

00:15:33
Speaker 3: But it's nice to have.

00:15:34
Speaker 2: And that's what was great about JP is I've had him for so long where I could be like, hey, what am I doing?

00:15:39
Speaker 3: And he could be like, remember when we did this in twenty twenty two and.

00:15:42
Speaker 2: It got you right back? So I guess, I guess it is very very important. And I was kind of more thinking the scouting part of things and stuff like that. Oh, it makes sense.

00:15:54
Speaker 4: You mentioned, you know, busters sometimes in the previous administration bouncing some stuff off of you about you know, potential free agents and additions and stuff like that. We're kind of up to that time again. I talked to Greg Johnson last week and he mentioned he thinks that you guys need at least one more Veterans Starter, depending on what happens with Justin Verlander and whether it comes back or not. Maybe too so obviously Schuser's names out there for obvious reasons. Justin's out there. How do you kind of see things? Do you do you feel like you need another Veterans Starter or two? And do you have any insights?

00:16:32
Speaker 2: I no, I I think this was a a lot of weird things happen this year. You know, Justin gets hurt kind of in a tough part of the year, and then you know Rupe getting hurt really hurt us in San Diego, and then you know there's some other things that happened.

00:16:53
Speaker 3: You know, I still think.

00:16:54
Speaker 2: The organization and all of us think the world of Hayden bird Song, you know, I think, uh, like I said, just some weird stuff happened.

00:17:03
Speaker 3: Uh, I think there's still a bright future for for Hayden and and we're excited about that.

00:17:08
Speaker 2: And there's some other guys you can be really excited about. You know, I think Wiz'd Hunt's a really good picture. There's a ton of young guys down there. I think Trevor McDonald at the end of the year was uh, you know.

00:17:19
Speaker 3: Really impressive.

00:17:21
Speaker 2: You know, we got to see him last the year before, like the last game, he was like a spot, Hey, let's throw three innings and he did amazing.

00:17:29
Speaker 3: And then this year he came in and I thought he did a great job again.

00:17:32
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of really good pieces that we have. Obviously, you know, me and Robbie and you know, I would love to have Justin back. I thought Justin back to the kind of the scouting part of things helped me so much, uh in my career, not only just mentality, you know, the scouting part of it, seeing reading different things that I might you know not I've seen before. And I would love justin to come back. Like I said, it's not my decision. I don't get to decide these things. I saw the Max thing. I know Tony knows them from a long time ago, so and I'm sure I'm sure it would be very similar.

00:18:16
Speaker 3: Learning as much as I can, and then.

00:18:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I I think at the end, I always try to find guys and get better in certain ways. I've seen a lot of comments about trying to get starting pitching and and and other other spots. So like I said, just show up and try to try to do try to get better as for myself and then kind of let the other pieces fall as they may.

00:18:42
Speaker 1: You're getting better right now. You just came from your workout. Maybe take us quickly through like what your off season workouts, like how hard you work and how that's evolved over the years, because I know for myself like that was always an evolutionary process, Like different off seasons were different things. And are you working on anything different, like different pitches or anything. I saw the back and forth with Brent Rooker about the split knuckle ball and splits like the thing with Yamamoto now in the world.

00:19:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, take us through like your off season.

00:19:10
Speaker 1: Workout what you're going through right now.

00:19:12
Speaker 2: Well, first off, I'm just trying to get Brent to to think of something else, right, Like, if I tell him I'm throwing a splitter knuckleball, he'll try he'll actually believe me for a second. He's no chance he actually believes me. But but yeah, I think, yeah, they're always trying to find new ways to get a pitch better. You know, last offseason it was trying to get my change up back to the where it was the year before. It was adding the cutter, trying to there's always tink tinkering to try to get maybe an inch more on my sweeper or you know, maybe add an extra tick of velocity, which I try to do every year and it never happens. But but yeah, there's always new things.

00:19:56
Speaker 3: I think as you get older, you learn your body a little bit better.

00:19:59
Speaker 2: Definitely, I don't try to lift as much, like as heavy as I used to. I'm not trying to deadlift the world or squat the world or bench as much as I can. I think that's, uh, that was a younger, younger me thing. Now it's kind of hurts a little bit more so it's just trying to I think it's more maintaining now I have done it. I've been at the same gym for six years now push Performance here in Arizona, and I've loved the workouts.

00:20:27
Speaker 3: I do it during the season as well, and.

00:20:32
Speaker 2: Just trying to trying to get better in different areas, Like you know, I'm trying to make my hips a little more better for you know, whatever that is. You know, there's always uh parts of the off season where you're trying to get a little more athletic or you're trying to do different things.

00:20:46
Speaker 3: So I'm excited about it. Uh, definitely.

00:20:51
Speaker 2: I thought at the end of the year, I saw I there's some mechanical things that I was really excited about that I felt, you know, talking to people, and I'm trying to keep going with that, try to get better at that.

00:21:02
Speaker 1: Well, you're a strikeout guy now four strikeouts. You led the National League in strikeouts? Is that your new thing? Are you just blowing guys away next year.

00:21:09
Speaker 2: Who knows, Maybe it's a fluke here. I won the gold Glove. I was the worst defender and I won the gold Glove. And I'm not a strikeout guy, and I struck out all, you know, more guys than I ever have. But no, that's that's kind of the evolvment thing. That's, you know, trying to get better in certain ways. Definitely, I think Justin was a big part of the strikeouts going up, you know, finding new ways to to get strikes early and counts, throwing different pitches.

00:21:36
Speaker 3: You know.

00:21:37
Speaker 2: I felt like before I'd get in trouble with it too where I would just kind of heavily lean on my change up and if it's the eighth or ninth time the guy's seen it in a game, it's probably not going to be as effective. And learning I can throw other pitches and different counts, and I thought that was really cool. And yes, try to get to try to get a little better, I think definitely, you know, I do think the extra velo is a thing. I'm not chasing one hundred, but I think if I can maintain it a little longer in games, I know, I you know, I can get to ninety four, ninety five early in a game, and then by the end of the game it's ninety two. So if I can maintain a little better, and that's part of the mechanical things that I'm excited about.

00:22:25
Speaker 1: Susan, you asked one more, and I'll ask one more and we'll let them go.

00:22:27
Speaker 4: Well, I've got the really important one. Since it's YAF season, I'm wondering how you're doing in the fantasy football I have.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: I so in the Giants one, I think I'm in a playoff spot right now. I think I'm six and four, so not bad. I'm honestly five hundred in like every league, which I don't know if I'm excited about that that I'm not bad in any league, but.

00:22:51
Speaker 3: It's been a weird I feel like it's been a weird football year. You know. I have one league where I have like.

00:22:56
Speaker 2: Six of the best players and they're just not working out for me, and I'm not in the playoffs in that league. But in another league, I don't have as good as players and I'm in the playoffs. So it's just it's all weird.

00:23:08
Speaker 4: I would say I'm rooting for you in the Giants one, except for I think we would all love to see you be the bat boy for a day. So I don't know's that's one.

00:23:17
Speaker 3: Well Chappie.

00:23:18
Speaker 2: So Chappie won the league last year and his team is not very good this year. So I'm hoping we get to see Matt Chapman, uh bat boy sighting this year.

00:23:29
Speaker 1: He'd actually have to take it. Yeah, last one, Logan, we let you go. Thank you so much for coming on. This is huge for our podcast. You're first guest ever. It's been great. I know you just want to gold glove. I know Asai Young means a lot to you too. But what would a World Championship in the San Francisco Giants uniform in the Logan web?

00:23:52
Speaker 2: Oh, it'd be the best, you know, I I've I came up in an error with uh. You know, there's a lot of guys still there from the championship years. It was bomb I mean, I'm gonna keep naming Bombbuster, crab Bell all these guys, right. And I got to see firsthand how much it meant to these guys and how much the Giants mean.

00:24:14
Speaker 3: To them, and it was really cool.

00:24:17
Speaker 2: And then I had my first really full season was twenty one and we won one hundred and seven games, and I thought there was no chance that any team was going to beat us. We I just felt that way, and we came close, not really that close, but you know, one run away from going to the CS and and I, uh, you know, I just thought that was gonna how it was, how it was going to be the rest of my career here, Right's uh, it's the Giants were just going to keep winning and unfortunately hasn't worked out. It's starting to get, you know, more and more frustrating at the end of seasons. But it's it's it's just something that I want to do. I mean, I think everybody wants if you're playing the big leagues, you want to win a World Series, but it's especially it would be especially great to win it in a Giants uniform. I'm I'm hoping I'm here my whole career, but that's not always. It doesn't always work out that way. So you know, I got three more years left on my contract, and I just hope, you know, hopefully it's this year, right and hopefully we you know, uh, Buster goes out and signs all the best players and we trade for all the best players. But but no, I I think, uh, I think we're on the right track. I think we've got a good corps guy core group of guys. I think bringing a guy like Tony is gonna be a huge part of it. And uh, I'm super excited for this year. But I feel like I'm going away from your question. Yes, that is the that is something that I I, you know, hopefully look forward.

00:25:46
Speaker 3: To doing in a Giants uniform, you know.

00:25:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we got all the guys, the boat she got, you know, bringing saves back. You're just all the all the it's it's exciting.

00:26:00
Speaker 3: It's exciting.

00:26:01
Speaker 2: Webby.

00:26:01
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, man, I know you're working out. You take time for us. It means a lot to us, bro and I look forward to seeing you soon.

00:26:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, key, and we really appreciate that. Yeah, thank you guys for having Mebby.

00:26:12
Speaker 2: Bye guys, Bye,