Giants Ace Makes Stunning Admission on Rocky All-Star Performance

Getty Giants star Logan Webb

By the time he was finished with his work on the mound at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, during July’s All-Star game, Giants pitcher Logan Webb had thrown 31 pitches, most of the night for any pitcher. Only 15 were strikes, though, as Webb allowed three hits and a walk in one inning, giving up three runs and leaving with an All-Star ERA of 27.00.

The N.L. wound up losing the game, 5-3.

At the time, Webb hinted that the MLB parties leading up to the game were part of his problem on the mound, telling MLB.com, “Obviously, I wish I pitched a little bit better. But I blame it on myself. I probably enjoyed myself a little too much the night before at some of those festivities. But it was a great time.”

And this week on “The Chris Rose Rotation,” podcast, Webb confirmed whatever suspicions that quote might have raised: He was no doubt hungover, he said, calling it, “probably one of the more hungover days,” he’s ever had.

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Webb is currently 12-9 with a 3.46 ERA for the Giants, who got off to a slow start this season and were never really able to gain traction after that. For the second year in a row, Webb has been the N.L.’s iron man on the mound, and is leading the league with 189.2 innings after pitching a league-high 216 innings last year.

Webb leads the league with 30 starts. But his rough outing in the All-Star game sticks with him, a day that began with waking the red carpet with his wife entering the game.

“It was hot. It was hot in Texas,” he told Rose. “We’re walking, we get to the red carpet, and they get us in this tent. There’s a lot of us in there and it was probably 100 (degrees). And I thought I was gonna throw up walking down the carpet. That was not a fun feeling, that was not a great feeling.

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Webb has recovered nicely from the experience, and has racked up a 5-2 record with a 3.44 ERA for the Giants since the All-Star game.

“I was nervous, I was excited,” he said. “I had a lot of Red Bulls, I got Tylenol, trying to get the hangover out of me. And I think I wasted all my good pitches in the bullpen. It was all I had, I wasted all of them. Then I go from the bullpen and I jog out to the mound, and the only thing I am thinking is, ‘Don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up.’ And it’s a long jog. I think my first pitch, almost did not make it to Will Smith. I would have felt bad about that.”

With a new contract from the Giants that will pay him $90 million over five seasons, Webb figures to be a fixture for several years to come, and will certainly have more cracks at the All-Star experience. If so, he’s learned his lesson, he said.

“Now I know if I ever make a future All-Star team, to just relax the night before. Just enjoy it but don’t enjoy it too much,” Webb said.