Logan Webb and Giants pitchers have tried just about everything to limit stolen bases this season.
San Francisco has allowed 0.97 stolen bases per game in 2024, the highest mark among MLB teams. Opponents ran wild against the Giants in the first half and it will be something they will look to improve on down the stretch.
However, one attempt to combat the issue in the Giants' 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday at Coors Field backfired indirectly.
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With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Webb surrendered a leadoff single to Rockies left fielder Sam Hilliard. After striking out Charlie Blackmon, Webb, with Hilliard on first, threw a first-pitch slider to Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who crushed a two-run home run into the bleachers to give Colorado a 4-2 lead.
In speaking to reporters after the game, Giants manager Bob Melvin revealed that he had Webb deliver the pitch Tovar homered on in a slide-step motion, which pitchers oftentimes use to speed up their delivery to combat base stealing.
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Go figure, right?
"Sometimes the first inning is the toughest inning for a starter and then it comes down to one pitch to Tovar and you know what, I probably had him slide step and be a little too quick on a breaking ball that he was trying to make a good pitch and left it over the plate," Melvin told reporters.
That one rushed pitch ended up being the difference in the game.
"No matter what you've got to make a better pitch," Webb said of the pitch postgame. "Looking back on it, probably shouldn't have thrown a slide-step slider. You can ask most pitchers, it's probably their least favorite pitch to throw when you're slide-stepping. Especially [to] a guy like that, he's hot, he's hitting the ball well. The pitch just had to be perfect and it wasn't."
In hindsight, Webb and Melvin regret the decision, but rather than the blame falling 100 percent on their shoulders, most of the credit should go to Tovar for squaring up the mistake.
Although the one pitch proved to be costly, Webb was not his sharpest on Saturday and was not pleased with his overall command.
"I think my changeup was just pretty bad today, to be honest," Webb added. "I think I could see early on that my slider was a better pitch, I was throwing that more ... I thought I stuck to the game plan pretty well, just made some bad pitches. That's just kind of how it goes."
The Giants returned from the MLB All-Star break looking to take advantage of a favorable second-half schedule. After losing the first two games to the lowly Rockies, San Francisco now will look to avoid a rare Coors Field sweep in Sunday's series finale.
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