One Injury the Giants Can't Afford Besides Rafael Devers

The San Francisco Giants paid a steep price last June to acquire power hitter Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox.

Statistically, he didn't have his best season. In Boston there was plenty of controversy over where he would play in the lineup. But he ended up hitting 35 home runs, including 20 in San Francisco. That proved he can do what shortstop Willy Adames did in 2025, which is hit 30 or more home runs in a season with 81 games at Oracle Park.

If Devers gets hurt for any length of time, that's a big deal for San Francisco. But the Giants could turn to their top prospect, Bryce Eldridge, to play the position. San Francisco naturally doesn't want Devers to get hurt, but it's potentially survivable.

But if this player gets hurt for any length of time in 2026 the Giants could be in big trouble.

Which Giants Player Cannot Get Hurt?

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb throws a baseball. — San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

That player is starting pitcher Logan Webb. The Giants have assembled a solid starting rotation with Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle, Adrian Houser and Landen Roupp. But, without Webb, San Francisco doesn’t just lose an ace. It loses a pitcher that makes the entire pitching staff better.

Webb has been a workhorse for the Giants the last four seasons. He’s pitched at least 200 innings in each of the last three seasons, with 192.1 innings in 2022. In 2025 he led the Majors with 207 innings pitched with a record of 15-11 with a 3.22 ERA. He finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting and was in the Top 6 in Cy Young voting for the third straight year.

It isn't just the quality of his pitching. It's the quality of his starts. Because Webb can log 200 innings a season, he tends to pitch into the sixth and seventh innings in most starts. By doing so, he shortens the game for San Francisco's bullpen.

Webb can hand a lead to a bullpen after seven innings, which would be a luxury for new manager Tony Vitello. He would only need a set-up man and a closer to finish the job.

Not many teams have a pitcher like Webb in this new era of inning management and multi-inning relievers. He’s a throwback to an era of pitchers that would throw complete games, or close to them, as part of the job and not just a one-off.

Imagine a rotation without Webb for two months. Sure, the Giants can call up Carson Whisenhunt or Carson Seymour. Neither is Webb’s equal, but they don’t work as deep in games, either. Losing Webb puts more pressure on the bullpen, puts more pressure on the remaining starters and puts more pressure on the offense to produce more runs to compensate for the loss of their best pitcher.

It’s a recipe for a disaster. In some ways, losing Webb for two months or more might be worse than losing Devers.