Logan Webb’s somber mood was impossible to miss on Monday night.
Though he had just thrown a complete-game victory to bolster his bid for a National League Cy Young award, Webb was downtrodden by the inevitability of missing the playoffs. Webb said that he’s “tired of losing” and the Giants were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday’s edition of 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast”, longtime Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming said Webb’s comments were directed towards some of his guys in the clubhouse.
"These days with the Giants, everybody is pointing a finger at management, whether it's coaches, manager on field, or front office,” Flemming told hosts Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky. “That is definitely not the only place that Logan was pointing the finger. He was calling out some of his teammates too in the way he said that."
Early in Tuesday night’s shutout loss, which eliminated the team from the postseason, reliever John Brebbia joked with Gabe Kapler, who was smiling with reporters after the game. Perhaps a bit of levity is good for everyone involved, but it was a weird juxtaposition of emotions.
There has been a lot scrutiny put on Kapler and Farhan Zaidi this season, but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic also raised some eyebrows when he reported that some Giants players have been pretty lackadaisical when it comes to their mediocre and frustrating season.
“Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, second baseman Thairo Estrada, and infielder Wilmer Flores are among those who sought to refocus a clubhouse that has included too many ho-hum reactions to losing along with a near-zealotry to Pusoy, a Filipino card game that Joc Pederson and some other Giants players appear to find more compelling than studying the night’s opposing starting pitcher,” Baggarly wrote.
Welp. At least Joc got his $19.7 million contract this season.
There are also rumblings that the Giants have rubbed their players the wrong way by micromanaging roles this season, so it seems like a major culture change is in order for the Giants if they want to get out of this funk by next season.