Gabe Kapler “totally agrees” with Logan Webb’s critique of SF Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — Logan Webb pitched a complete game in a Giants’ win on Monday night, but his call for the Giants to “make big changes” following a disappointing 2023 season reverberated throughout the organization and likely resonated with a frustrated fan base.

Manager Gabe Kapler made it known that he agrees completely with Webb’s assessment that the team slipping out of postseason contention was because they hadn’t created a winning culture.

“Loved it and totally agree with everything he said,” Kapler said before Tuesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres. “We have to set the standard every time we come to the ballpark.”

Asked what needs to change, Kapler said preparation for each game needs to be more consistent.

“The standard expectation has to be that we’re a winning organization and we’ll stop at nothing to get better,” he said. “And I think Logan’s sentiment is shared by everyone in the organization right now.

“I think we can do better, and that comes from every corner of the clubhouse and we have work to do in that regard. There is always room for improvement, but Logan’s words were strong, noted and, as I mentioned, agreed with by everyone here. … We all have responsibility to raise the bar to the highest possible expectations, to not accept losing and expect to win every night and to go quickly back to make adjustments and we haven’t met that standard.

“What leads to a championship mentality is preparing relentlessly for every game and when that preparation isn’t leading to success, tweaking that preparation to lead to success.”

The Giants were two losses away from being eliminated from wild card contention heading into Tuesday’s second game of the series against the Padres, who were one loss away from elimination. Just a month ago, the Giants held the reigns for one of three N.L. wild-card spots. Entering play Tuesday, The Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs held the top three spots, with the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds still in the hunt.

San Francisco spiraled out of contention by losing eight games on their most recent 10-game road trip and 14 of their last 17 road games.

Webb, the team’s ace, has become the face of the team increasingly intolerant of the Giants’ last two mediocre seasons. The 26-year-old has a 3.25 ERA and pitched a league-leading 216 innings with a final start to go, putting himself well into Cy Young Award contention. But Webb couldn’t celebrate his complete game on Monday and deflected any consideration for the award to that night’s Padres starter Blake Snell.

“To be honest, winning is more important,” Webb told reporters on Monday. “If we don’t do that then it’s kind of a waste. That’s my goal. I’m tired of losing. It’s not enjoyable. It’s not fun. We have to make some big changes in here to create that winning culture that we want to show up every single year and try to win the whole thing.”