Webb looking to adjust to new pitch rules
TEMPE, Ariz. — Trial and error is perhaps the prevailing motif of spring training, but the plot has intensified in accordance with rule changes confirmed in the offseason.
There’s a pitch clock. The third baseman actually has to play the position. And it’ll take some time for everyone — pitchers, hitters and managers — to adjust.
Especially Logan
Webb, it seems.
Coming off two seasons that established him as a more than reliable starter for the San Francisco Giants, Webb had a shaky opening to his spring season Monday in a two-inning outing against the Los Angeles Angels. He was tagged at Tempe Diablo Stadium with four hits, including Luis Rengifo’s two-run homer and consecutive liners up the middle by Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
The Giants won 8-6, but Webb took reporters through a reflection of what changes he might implement as he readies for a fifth big-league season.
“Before, if I go 2-0 to a hitter, I would try to take a breath, stand on the back of the mound for a second,” Webb said. “You can’t do that anymore. It’s like you gotta get up there and just throw it.
“Today, I was a little unsure about foul balls or kind of stuff like that, but you’ve got enough time. It’s fast, for sure, but it’s not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.”
As fellow starter Alex Cobb added, there are a number of pitch-to-pitch procedures needed to succeed with speed.
With every new baseball, there’s a certain grip that can be complicated to figure out when rushed. With every signal exchanged between a pitcher and catcher, an irreplaceable sense of chemistry can reduce shakeoffs or indecision. With every baserunner, there’s multitasking that might be made more difficult amid time pressure and the reduction in pickoff attempts.
“You’re just gonna have to work at a higher processing rate, a baseball smartness out there,” Cobb said.
Strategy, too, is new. Behind Webb’s two stellar seasons was an astute organizational understanding of the shift, which broadly benefited the 26year-old more than most as part of a 2022 season in which he had a 2.90 ERA in 192 1⁄3= innings.
The first-inning single by Ohtani might have played out differently in 2022, Webb said.
“Last year that was an out,” Webb said. “I gotta maybe try some different things, maybe — I threw it down the middle so I probably shouldn’t do that.”
Health above all else: After an injury-laden second season with the Giants that ended with just 77 games played, LaMonte Wade Jr. has his sights set on a special follow-up that’ll involve dayto-day workload management as opposed to the “go-go-go” mentality he said he’d upheld for much of his professional career.
Naturally, “Late Night” LaMonte wants to be around long enough to carry his hitting into October and beyond.
“It’s less time in the cages, more time in the training room,” Wade said. “My reps are really focused. I’m not just doing it just to do it. Every rep has intention behind it. That way, I can do less and get out of there. Last year, I feel I was really searching with the knee and I think that just compiled on more problems. If I can do less, I think that’ll be more.”
Hitting leadoff Monday, Wade barreled the first ball he got from lefty Patrick Sandoval for a double and his third hit of the spring. He struck out in his next at-bat, but manager Gabe Kapler said he was especially pleased with Wade’s energy in the infield because it served as an indicator of what he can do when fully healthy.
“He’s healthier than we’ve seen him in quite some time, maybe the healthiest and strongest that we’ve seen him in a Giants uniform, possibly in the best physical condition that he’s been in at the major-league level,” Kapler said.
Perez to play: Roberto Perez, a 34-year-old catcher who won Gold Gloves in 2019 and 2020 with Cleveland, signed with the Giants this month and said he expects to make his spring debut Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. As a nonroster invitee to spring training, Perez is not guaranteed an Opening Day roster spot.
In the early stages of acclimating to this third team in three years — a stretch marked by a slew of injuries, including a fractured finger as well as shoulder and hamstring injuries — Perez said he has worked swiftly to catch every Giants starter in the back field of Scottsdale Stadium.
“I’m not trying to get to know them as a baseball player but also as a person,” Perez said. “It’s been great.”
Briefly: Stephen Piscotty winced after taking a pitch to his hand, but Kapler said he doesn’t think it’ll lead to any long-term absence. … Starting pitching prospect Keaton Winn got Ohtani for his first MLB spring training strikeout. … Catcher Blake Sabol continued to impress Kapler during a game in which he recorded his fourth hit.