Logan Webb threw 53 pitches yesterday, going 3.1 innings, giving up 2 hits and 1 unearned run. He struck out 6 and didn’t walk anyone. It was a successful outing.
Hayden Birdsong also pitched yesterday. He threw 44 pitches over 2.1 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 earned runs. He struck out 3 and walked 1.
These are unremarkable Spring Training lines. Really, any Spring Training line that doesn’t end in injury or a shellacking is an unremarkable Spring Training line. It’s an unremarkable time in the year, by design. When you practice to get ready, it is because you are not yet ready, and the practice helps get you ready. You sharpen your skills against the best before you have to actually go out and win against them. It helps them, sure, but it also helps you, and it helps the fans get the best version of baseball possible.
Naturally, then, the Giants aren’t going to do any of that, because Webb and Birdsong pitched in minor league camp yesterday.
Now, this is not a big deal. Perhaps I am undercutting the purpose of my own newsletter to point out that this isn’t super important, but hey, it’s not like I break news or charge money, so you get what you get.
But on the other hand, it seems like exactly the type of small thing that the team could easily do another way, if they were so inclined. And it’s a bit surprising they’re not; say what you will about Buster Posey, but as a player he was always pushing the Giants to compete every second of every day. It wasn’t just that the results mattered and that one win could get the team into the playoffs; it was that this is what you do. You go out there and you try your darnedest to win no matter what. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you always get to have your head held high when you’re done knowing that you gave it your all.
It would seem uncharacteristic for Posey to let up on the gas for a moment, even if that moment occurs in early March, but here we are. Because Logan Webb and Hayden Birdsong didn’t really compete yesterday. They went to the JV field, showed off their big muscles, and then called it a day. Sure, Birdsong didn’t do well, but if you view these guys as major league pitchers, then in order to hone their craft, they should be competing against major leaguers. In order to prepare themselves for the season, they should be doing it against major leaguers.
The Giants sent Webb and Birdsong to the minor league park because they viewed it as a threat that the Diamondbacks would see them an extra time and be extra prepared to face them when the regular season starts. And while the Giants have been doing this for years, I’d like to remind them: that familiarity goes both ways. The pitcher also gets an extra look at the hitters. The pitcher also gets to suss out the weaknesses of his competition. The pitcher also gets to learn and file facts away in his mental Rolodex — kids, I’d say you can ask what a Rolodex is, but there’s almost no change any of you care enough to do that — to make him better tomorrow. And the pitcher also gets to improve himself in a way that facing minor leaguers just can’t accomplish.
Yes, I am aware of the argument that you don’t want to give a division rival a free look at your starting pitcher. Here’s my counter-argument: The Arizona Diamondbacks have seen Logan Webb pitch approximately 400 billion times. Their coaching staff and the veteran core of the team could not possibly be more aware of what he has to offer. You do not need to hide from them. You need to beat them, and to believe you can beat them, and to throw that inside fastball to the guy who everyone thinks can wallop the inside fastball, but maybe yours has enough movement to induce a weak groundout.
In recent years, we’ve seen — and not just in sports, but in the wider culture — a corporate fetishization of not doing things. Streaming services cancel unreleased shows and unrelease completed ones because they think they can get a tax break for it. TikTok stars and YouTubers sell the fantasy of passive income, in which you too can make money while doing absolutely nothing if you just follow this one weird trick (the one weird trick is giving them money). And in baseball, we’ve seen just how many front offices don’t bother to really try to win now. They don’t have to. Showing up is good enough.
That’s not who or what I want the Giants to be. They should have the mentality that they get to compete with the best in the world, they get to improve during the spring, they get to face their peers. These are not chores their parents are making them do. These are the tasks that get them excited in the morning, get their heart pumping, keep them feeling alive.
It is a small thing that Webb and Birdsong didn’t face the Diamondbacks yesterday. But it would have also been a small thing if they did, and small things have meaning. There’s no reason to spare them from getting ready to do their jobs. It’s a bad idea, and a trendy one, brought on by indifference to the everyday task of being a baseball player. Every time the Giants make this choice, it’s telling, and not in a good way.
I thought this was a dynamite, thoughtful, balanced article. It's almost like you're a journalist!
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Verdad, Maestro. What have los G's got to hide, anyway?
And, who wants to pay MLB prices in AZ, just to watch MiLB scrubs start games in Scottsdale?