Logan Webb is a seasoned MLB veteran, but the All-Star pitcher still vividly remembers when a current Giants teammate gave him a "welcome to the big leagues" moment nearly a decade ago.
During an exclusive interview with The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly, Webb revealed that San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman doled out his first taste of MLB reality while pitching for the Giants' instructional team in Arizona during the fall of 2014.
“We used to have this rule where if you got 0-2, you had to throw a fastball outside,” Webb told Baggarly. “That was the rule, don’t know why. And so I throw the pitch and Matt Chapman hits it off the 421-foot sign. I was like, ‘All right, this is professional baseball.’ I’d never had someone hit a ball like that off me. So yeah, Chappy actually gave me my first ‘welcome to professional baseball’ moment."
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Fast forward to 2024, and Webb now is teammates with Chapman, with the duo serving as key building blocks of the Giants franchise as San Francisco seeks to return to MLB prominence.
Luckily, Webb no longer is on the receiving end of Chapman's powerful bat, and instead can watch his teammate tee off on opposing pitchers' mistakes.
Webb and Chapman have grown close during their first season together on the Giants, with their bond extending well beyond the baseball diamond. Webb shared his excitement upon hearing Chapman signed a six-year contract extension with San Francisco, telling Baggarly he immediately thought about what it meant for their respective families as much as the ballclub both play for.
“So I texted him later that night,” Webb told Baggarly of what he said to Chapman after news of the extension. “And I told him, ‘The coolest part for me is our kids get to grow up together now.’ That’s awesome. We live five minutes away from each other in the offseason. I couldn’t be more excited for him, for his family, and selfishly, for myself. It’s going to be great.
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“He and I have talked about it a lot. He brings a positive change to a lot of things. He and I are excited to keep trying to lead this team. We’re all in the same boat and we’ve got to right the ship. The San Francisco Giants organization is better than this. We see that. I know he sees that. We’ve got to keep pushing forward and signing Chappy is the best start we could have possibly had.”
After being eliminated from 2024 MLB playoff contention, Webb and Chapman figure to play pivotal roles in the Giants' 2025 plans and beyond as all eyes turn toward the future.
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