RADIO
Logan Webb 2023 Player Outlook: Having Success Without Many Strikeouts
2 years agoIt was another solid season for the Giants' young righty, as he put up a 3.18 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP. The bad news was that his strikeout rate dropped nearly six full points down to 20.7%. The SwStr% also dropped two points down to 11.4%, below league average. This is all pretty concerning, as we were really hoping Webb could stick to his ways of being a high GB% pitcher (he did this) while maintaining an above-average strikeout rate, something which not many pitchers are able to do. The silver lining here is that Webb has the stuff to do a lot of different things. The strikeout rate decrease last year was probably the result of him ditching his four-seam fastball in favor of the sinker (he used that pitch 33% of the time and did not get many whiffs at all on the pitch). If he stays a sinkerballer primarily, he will fail again in strikeout rate - but it does come with the benefit of the high ground ball rate that helps with ERA so much. He also has a strong slider and changeup combination to use, so there's some hope here that he can return to a good strikeout rate. All things considered, Webb is a high-floor, but low-ceiling pick for 2023 at his ADP around 110.
