Thursday BP: Logan Webb is getting some rest

Happy Thursday, San Francisco Giants fans.

The Giants don’t play baseball today, but they do play baseball tomorrow, when they’ll visit the Pittsburgh Pirates to kick off the unofficial second half of the season with 11 road games in as many days. Yikes!

San Francisco will need as much rest as they can get, and they’re jumpstarting things on that front by giving their ace, Logan Webb, an extended break.

Webb wasn’t one of the two pitchers to represent the Giants at the All-Star Game — that distinction belonged to Alex Cobb and Camilo Doval — but there can be no denying that he’s the most important pitcher on the roster. He’s made it through the fifth inning in all 19 of his starts this year, made it through the sixth inning 16 times, and made it through the seventh inning 10 times. As a result, Webb’s 126 innings pitched this year are tops in the Majors, a full seven innings ahead of the next most-used arm.

He last pitched on Sunday, in the final game before the All-Star break, when he dazzled with the first complete game shutout of his career, as the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 1-0 to head into the break with a two-game winning streak.

But he won’t pitch on Friday, even though he’d be on full rest. Instead, the Giants will look to get him a little bit of extra rest in his arm as they gear up for a postseason run. The Giants announced on Wednesday that Ross Stripling will start Friday’s series opener, as he matches up against Rich Hill. Cobb will take the bump on Saturday, opposite Johan Oviedo. San Francisco hasn’t listed their starter for Sunday’s game, and it would certainly make a lot of sense for Webb to take the mound for that game. However, maybe the Giants will have him get another day of rest and then pitch against a better team on Monday, when they visit the Cincinnati Reds.

Either way, Webby is getting some rest. Which he deserves.