During batting practice at Rogers Centre on Friday, Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman was a sought-after figure, spending over an hour on the visitors’ side of the field reconnecting with San Francisco Giants players and staff. Gausman, who pitched for the Giants in 2020 and 2021, became a beloved clubhouse presence in his short tenure, and his return was met with a constant stream of handshakes and hugs.
Among the crowd, perhaps no one was happier to see him than Giants right-hander Logan Webb. “He’s one of my favourite guys that I have ever played with,” Webb stated. “He’s a big reason why I’m able to do what I do today.”
What Webb does now is perform as one of the most durable starting pitchers in baseball. Scheduled to face the Blue Jays on Saturday, the 28-year-old leads the MLB with 887 innings pitched since the start of the 2021 season, and his 21.1 fWAR over that period is second only to Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.
Webb attributes this breakout success to a single, transformative conversation with Gausman. In April 2021, after a difficult start in Philadelphia, a discouraged Webb felt he had hit a breaking point. Having struggled since his 2019 debut, he confided in Gausman, expressing doubt that he would ever be more than an average major-league pitcher.
“He kind of got mad at me,” Webb recalled. “He was just like, ‘You need to stop saying that. You got really good stuff. You got to just have more fun and enjoy it a little bit more.’ And I really took that to heart.”
Gausman, 34, remembers the discussion clearly. He had noticed the young pitcher was excessively hard on himself. “As a young pitcher, you’re trying to put your stamp on your career,” Gausman said. “[The conversation] was like, ‘Hey, remember why we started playing this game… Now we’re at this level where we put so much pressure on ourselves. Every pitch we throw is dissected… How can we get you to get out of your own way and just be loose out there?'”
Webb admitted he had initially adopted a serious demeanor on start days, believing it was how veteran pitchers were supposed to act. “Some guys still do things the old-school way,” he explained. “They have their headphones on, really locked in. Kevin wasn’t like that… You can have a conversation with him, whereas with some guys, they don’t want to talk.”
The mental shift worked wonders. Webb began to focus on finding enjoyment in small successes, like executing a perfect sinker. The results were immediate. Five days after his low point in Philadelphia, he threw seven scoreless innings against Miami. He continued that momentum, posting an impressive 2.86 ERA over his final 22 starts of the 2021 season.
Gausman, who was Webb’s catch partner, witnessed the growing mastery of his teammate’s trademark sinker firsthand. According to Baseball Savant’s Run Value metric, that pitch ranked as the second-best sinker in 2024 and currently sits at number six this year.
Beyond the improved arsenal, Gausman has taken the most joy in seeing Webb’s changed demeanor. “When he’s just himself and free out there, he’s going to be able to do whatever he wants,” Gausman observed. “Now, when you watch him pitch, you’re going to see him laugh on the mound… He wasn’t like that before.”
While Gausman couldn’t have predicted the profound impact of their chat, he insists the credit belongs to Webb for realizing his potential.
“He took that conversation and just absolutely ran with it,” Gausman said. “I’m a huge fan of his because I’ve seen him turn into the pitcher that he is, but I also know him as a person. I can’t say enough good things about him… I’m just ecstatic to see what he’s become.”
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