Webb, Bart set for ‘very special' moment for Giants on Opening Day

When the Giants hired Farhan Zaidi in 2018 they never used the word "rebuild," and within three years it became clear why that was the right plan. Zaidi quickly reloaded, bringing in overlooked prospects from other organizations while overseeing a front office and coaching staff that have gotten the most out of just about everyone who has put on orange and black lately. 

But the end goal of all of this, the final stage in the plan, is to be more traditional. 

The Giants want to build a sustainable winner, the type that exists at Dodger Stadium and in Tampa Bay, and to do so they need their farm system to start flooding the big league roster with stars and depth. In that respect, Friday's opener feels like a huge moment.

The Giants will do what became so familiar when they were holding parades every other year, lining up behind a young homegrown starter and a young homegrown catcher. Logan Webb, 25, will throw the first pitch of the season to Joey Bart, who was born 27 days after Webb in 1996. 

As he announced the decision on Thursday, manager Gabe Kapler called it a "proud moment" for the organization, particularly the player development staff. It certainly will be for all of the Giants executives, scouts and minor league coaches watching across the country. 

"We are happy with getting wins whomever helps, but it's definitely more emotional after having seen both of those guys sign with the Giants and go through the levels earning their way to an Opening Day lineup," director of player development Kyle Haines said via text. "Knowing all the ups and downs they went through to get to this day makes it very special for everyone in player development."

The bar for homegrown pitchers and catchers has been set impossibly high in San Francisco, but it's hard not to look at Webb and Bart and think of the opener 11 years ago. On that day at Dodger Stadium, a 24-year-old Buster Posey made his first Opening Day start and teamed up with 26-year-old Tim Lincecum. There is, of course, a very notable difference in the pairings. 

Posey was already a World Series champion by that point, and for as much as Webb accomplished last year, he has not come close to matching Lincecum's early resume. Few in baseball history ever have. By 2011, Lincecum was already a two-time Cy Young Award winner and three-time All-Star. Webb and Bart are a reminder that for every Posey and Lincecum, there are hundreds of big league starters who take a far less linear path. 

Webb was a fourth-round pick in 2014 who needed Tommy John surgery two years later. Through his first two big league seasons, he had a 5.36 ERA and had not locked up a rotation spot. But a light came on last spring, and from May on, Webb was as good as any pitcher in the National League. He vaulted to stardom in the NLDS, and the Giants are setting no ceiling on what Webb might accomplish this season. 

"I've been working with Webb for a while now and to see him come alive last year was awesome," Bart said. "I'm super excited to see what he can do and unlock all of his potential. We've seen a little bit of it, but I think once he gets his rhythm to start the season it can be really dangerous. 

"(He's capable of) doing what he did at the end of last year every time out. He's really got some weapons. He's one of those guys that can throw any pitch and it's never easy to hit. You can cheat to him as much as you want, but with the ball moving as much as it does, it's going to be tough to hit."

Bart first caught Webb in the big leagues on Aug. 21, 2020, his second day on the roster. Taken second overall in 2018, Bart was limited to 79 games in his first full professional season because of injuries. The next year, he was thrust into the starting role because of Posey's decision to opt out. He made his debut during a pandemic, with the team fighting for a playoff spot for the first time in four years, a young coaching staff trying to prove new methods worked, and nothing but cardboard cutouts in the stands. 

"To get thrown into the spot he did two years ago, well, what do you expect?" fellow catcher Curt Casali said. "And I think it's kind of cool that the organization basically said the exact same thing. It was out of necessity and not his fault -- he didn't even do that bad, I don't think. But he got a few games under his belt last year for us and helped us win a couple of games, which was enormous, and now this spring it was kind of what we were all expecting Joey to be, to be The Dude. 

"His bat has looked really good and he's looked tremendous behind the plate as well. I expect huge things from him."

Bart re-arrives with a .239 career batting average and he's still searching for his first big league homer, but he needs only to look 60 feet, six inches away on Friday to remember how meaningless all of that is. In the span of a few months, Webb turned himself into a Cy Young candidate, but it's Bart who was his pick to win hardware this season.

"Honestly," Webb said Thursday, "I do think he will win Rookie of the Year."

Webb said he's excited to throw to Bart and watch him grow, but he's also extremely excited to watch his battery mate simply experience life in the big leagues. Bart has played two career games with fans in the stands, and his parents were not able to attend his debut in 2020. 

Both will be at Oracle Park on Friday, along with at least one of Bart's brothers. The cheering party will be dwarfed, however, by the group from Rocklin. 

"Oh my god, too many," Webb said when asked how many family members and friends are driving down. "Too many. I'm going to have my family, close relatives, family friends, and my wife's family. There will be a lot of people here. I've got some buddies that bought some good seats so they'll be up close, probably heckling me a little bit."

That's exactly what Webb wants, and it's part of how he and Bart became close. Webb recalled first crossing paths in minor league camp in 2019 when the two would constantly talk about sports with two other Giants prospects. 

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"We would just argue sports for hours. Just stupid stuff," Webb said, smiling. "That was kind of when me and Joey became close. It was always me and Mac Marshall against him and Mack Meyer. That's how we got to know each other really well. It's funny how you can bond over stuff like that, but that's how we bonded and we've been pretty close since then."

They were the embodiment of that joke about how guys can sit around and talk about old athletes for hours, except now Webb and Bart are the ones being talked about. For Webb, it ramped up last season when everything finally clicked into place. He can't wait to watch Bart take his own journey and grab hold of the responsibilities that belonged to a Hall of Famer for the last decade.

"He's not Buster -- I don't think anybody is Buster -- but he's going to be Joey Bart," Webb said. "And he's going to be very, very good at what he does."

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