DrB's 2020 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #5 Logan Webb

Logan Webb RHP.  DOB:  11/18/1996.  6'2", 220 lbs.

2019(MLB):  2-3, 5.22, 39.2 IP, 8.39 K/9, 3.18 BB/9. GB/FB= 2.11, 4.12 FIP, 3.89 xFIP.

Pretty much every Giants top prospect list has a top 4 of Bart, Ramos, Luciano, Bishop with some reversing Ramos and Luciano.  Once you get past that top tier though, the lists start to diverge.  My thought on Logan Webb is you have to be quite a prospect to rank higher than a guy who already showed he could compete at the MLB level.  Webb still qualifies as a prospect with less than 50 IP.  His MLB ERA is a bit ugly but the peripherals are strong.  While he doesn't have any significant physical projection, he has opportunity to refine his game which he has already shown the ability to do.

Webb appeared to be ready for an early MLB debut before getting popped for a PED suspension early in 2019.  He insists he does not know how the substance got into his body, but has stated it could have been a contaminated supplement.  Given the utter lack of evidence for supplement efficacy, he might want to just lay off those entirely going forward.  Anyway, the FB was down a tick for two from 2018, but per Fangraphs scouting report, he backs it up with a "dastardly" slider and an "improved" changeup.  The two-seam FB produces solid groundball numbers.  He'll have to watch out for the launch-angle hitters in MLB.  I'm thinking we could see the FB back up a tick in 2020 and he should continue to improve his command and pitch sequencing.

Farhan seems to want to find out what he has in Webb and Tyler Beede, but I could also see Webb starting out the 2020 season back in AAA if Farhan adds more depth in the Hot Stove season.  In any event, he should get plenty of innings at the MLB level.