SAN FRANCISCO -- Logan Webb picked his words carefully on Tuesday night, but he didn't really need to. He was mostly just saying the same thing his manager has at times this summer, and it has been easy to see for anyone who has watched the Giants.
Kapler has mentioned a few times how the Giants needed to show a bit more energy, and veterans have mentioned it at points of a season that has gone off the rails. After Tuesday's loss, the sixth straight, Webb had the strongest comments yet, saying "maybe the fire wasn't there throughout the year." A few hours later, Kapler said he hadn't seen the comments, but he doesn't disagree.
"I think there have been times when there has been some truth to what Logan is saying," Kapler said before Wednesday's game. "Obviously we have not had the season that we expected to have. Obviously, we expect more out of ourselves and we have an incredibly high bar for the San Francisco Giants. We had it coming into this season and we're going to have it going forward.
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"Specifically, I think we have a lot of areas where we can and need to improve. I wouldn't isolate (lack of energy) but I would say there's fairness to it."
A team usually looks lifeless when losing, and right now the Giants are doing more of it than they ever could have imagined. They enter the series finale against the Padres with a 61-67 record and a 0.2 percent chance of making the postseason, according to FanGraphs. With a 24-40 record since June 19, the Giants have been better than only the Nationals and Pirates, two teams in full rebuilds.
The Giants came into the season with World Series aspirations. Instead, they're closer to last place than a playoff spot as September approaches, and it'll be an uphill climb to even get back to .500 given how difficult the schedule is the next two weeks.
At this point, much of the work must turn to how to avoid this happening again next year, and getting more players with Webb's energy would be a good start. The Giants are the oldest team in the National League and have looked like it since the end of April. They will need to get younger and more athletic as they rebuild around their 25-year-old ace.
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Webb is the youngest member of the rotation but is growing into a leader. The Giants put his face on the side of the building this year and chose him to start on Opening Day, and Kapler said he was happy to see Webb take on a more vocal role.
"My feeling on that is, great, Logan is here to express himself and to share frustration and to share disappointment," Kapler said. "He's a leader on our team right now, even if he hasn't fully embraced that yet, in part because I think he's been concerned about maybe stepping on toes from time to time, maybe not feeling quite ready to take on that responsibility. But he is every bit a leader and a huge, huge important piece of our future with a voice that needs to be heard right now and going forward."
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