Bob Melvin has yet to manage a game for the Giants, but the new skipper already has earned the admiration of one of the franchise's cornerstones in pitcher Logan Webb.
During an interview on the latest episode of the "Giants Talk" podcast, NBC Sports Bay Area's Laura Britt asked Melvin if he has met Webb since the star pitcher's comments about "fanboying" over his new manager.
"Fanboy, I'm not 100 percent sure what that means, I think," Melvin told Britt. "But Logan, he and [Mike Yastrzemski] were my first two calls. You're right. Everybody is all over the place, so it's more phone calls right now, just letting guys know, look I'm thinking about you, I'm excited about having you. I'm just happy I'm on the same team as Logan Webb now because I was on the other side too many times against him. So I intimated that right away, but he's saying all the right things. He wants to be a leader. He has pride in being a Giant, too, so we have a lot in common."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
After managing the San Diego Padres for the past two seasons, Melvin got an up-close look at how dominant Webb can be on the mound. In three starts against San Diego during the 2023 MLB season, Webb posted a 0.83 ERA. That included a complete game win in his last start of the season, where he held the Padres to just a single run in nine innings of work.
Melvin shared what stood out about Webb during his proximity to San Francisco's ace throughout his tenure in the NL West over the last couple of seasons.
"Well, the performance, [for] one," Melvin said. "But the competitiveness. Guys that compete like that are typically very good leaders too. Something I've been trying to intimate to some of our guys here, and I'm not done with everybody, there's still a lot of calls to make and so forth, is that look if you just lead by example, you go out there and do it right, and you're the type of guy he is, everybody kind of has to fall in.
"The younger guys see the established guys do it. And then don't worry so much about having to lead. That's our job. That's my job as a manager and the coaches that we're bringing in. So don't put too much pressure on yourself as far as that goes. Just go out there and do it right, lead by example, and it's going to make our jobs a lot easier as coaches."
San Francisco Giants
Webb finished the 2023 MLB season with an 11-13 record, posting a 3.25 ERA across 33 starts. Next season, the leader of the Giants' rotation will enter the first year of a $90 million contract extension that ties him to San Francisco through the 2028 season.