In 2025, The Diamond hosts its 40^th and final season of professional baseball in Richmond. Between the Richmond Braves from 1985-2008 and the Richmond Flying Squirrels since 2010, countless future major leaguers have taken the steps from the first base dugout onto The Diamond’s playing surface.

Prior to the season, fans voted for The All-Diamond Team, selecting one manager as well as 14 of their favorite players who have gone on to MLB stardom after suiting up for the R-Braves and Flying Squirrels.

We continue the announcement of the All-Diamond Team with the fans’ choice for the third of three starting pitchers, Logan Webb.

Manager: Grady Little
Starting Pitcher: John Smoltz
Starting Pitcher: Tom Glavine
Starting Pitcher: Logan Webb
Relief Pitcher: TBA
Relief Pitcher: TBA
Utility Player: TBA
Catcher: TBA
First Baseman: TBA
Second Baseman: TBA
Shortstop: TBA
Third Baseman: TBA
Outfielder: TBA
Outfielder: TBA
Outfielder: TBA

Logan Webb first arrived in Richmond near the end of the 2018 season. Entering that year, the future San Franciso Giants ace was not listed among Baseball America’s top-30 prospects in the organization.

The Northern California native spent most of that year about three hours from his hometown with the High-A San Jose Giants. Webb was four years removed from being selected by the Giants out of Rocklin High School in the 2014 MLB Draft.

Webb had posted decent numbers in some of his minor league seasons to that point. In the hitter-friendly California League that summer, he found a new gear. In his 21 outings (20 starts) for San Jose, he posted a 1.82 ERA and struck out 74. He was named a Cal League All-Star.

The Giants pushed him up to Double-A to get a taste of the level on July 31. He made his final six starts of the year with the Flying Squirrels.

Webb made his Double-A debut with Richmond on the road in Portland, Maine on August 5. The Sea Dogs threatened against him in the first two innings before breaking through in the third with a two-run homer by Bobby Dalbec, who was then one of Boston’s top prospects.

He settled back in and allowed just one more run over his five total innings that day. It was a decent first Double-A outing for the 21-year-old righty.

The following week, the Flying Squirrels returned to Richmond and Webb made his The Diamond debut on August 11 against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The Blue Jays’ Double-A club was one of the most talked about teams in the minors that year. The roster included big-time prospects who were all the sons of former MLB stars, including Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had just been promoted from the Eastern League to Triple-A the same day Webb was called up from San Jose.

“It was my first time having that kind of big crowd,” Webb said earlier this spring. “I thought a lot of people were there to watch them. It was the first time I had thrown in front of 10,000 people. You could feel the energy from them.”

It was a good outing. Webb walked Bichette twice and allowed a single to Biggio, but he held the Fisher Cats to one run over five innings.

Webb pitched again at The Diamond in his next start against Hartford and fired 5 1/3 scoreless innings for his first Double-A win, striking out nine after he had zero strikeouts in the outing against New Hampshire.

He made three more starts on the year with varying levels of success, but he had gotten a month-long introduction to the Eastern League and to Double-A.

"I mean, that's a crazy list to be on."@treywilson757 caught up with #SFGiants ace Logan Webb on the latest edition of The Funnville NIne. They talked about his All-Diamond Team selection, having the flu during his Flying Squirrels debut and more.

🔊 https://t.co/Ra1uHXMqcO https://t.co/UcPl4YVvg4 pic.twitter.com/BEvF1zFln9

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 8, 2025

The 2018 season put Webb on the map. After not being listed at all in Baseball America’s Giants prospect rankings entering the year, he soared to the No. 6 spot heading into 2019.

He returned to Richmond to begin the 2019 season and was named team’s Opening Day starter by manager Willie Harris. As the start of the season approached, Webb started to feel ill.

“I had one of the worst flues of all time,” Webb said. “There was a question of whether I was going to throw or not.”

With the excitement of taking the ball on Opening Day in front of a sellout crowd at The Diamond, Webb was not going to skip it.

“That was my first time starting Opening Day in professional baseball,” Webb said. “I felt like I had to. I was super excited about it. I knew the crowd was going to be amazing.”

Webb battled his way through five scoreless innings in the April 4, 2019 start. He held Hartford to two hits, but he did issue a career-high five walks.

“Obviously the flu sucked, but I managed to get through it,” Webb said. “I’m sure the velo wasn’t that great that day. I was kind of grinding through some stuff.”

At the end of April, Webb was pitching as well as he ever had. In a start on April 23 against Reading, he struck out nine batters over five innings and allowed one unearned run. In his next start on April 29 at Bowie, he allowed one run in six innings and punched out 10, the first time he had reached double-figure strikeouts in his professional career.

After striking out 19 batters over 11 innings in those two starts, he missed the next three months.

Webb returned to the Flying Squirrels at the end of July. He made a start in Altoona and battled through 4 2/3 innings, scattering seven hits.

His next start, he allowed seven runs in the third inning and three before being lifted in the fourth. Errors behind him meant all of the career-high 10 runs he surrendered that day were unearned, but he also again matched his career high with five walks.

Harris sat him down for a chat.

“I was nervous,” Webb said. “He sat me down and he kind of just said, ‘Calm it down. Have fun out there.’ He told me if I don’t suck, I’ll go to Sacramento. I think Willie saw me as a guy that took that as a challenge. I was excited to hear that.”

After the 10-run outing in Harrisburg, Webb made one more start for the Flying Squirrels. On August 6, he threw six innings and allowed two runs later. He was promoted to Triple-A after the game.

His stay in Sacramento was a short one. He made one start for the River Cats before finding out he was heading to the majors to join the Giants. Aside from one rehab start in 2021, he has not returned to the minors.

Webb made his MLB debut on August 13 against the Padres at Oracle Park. He pitched into the sixth and struck out seven, allowing one run.

Now Webb is in his seventh big league season and anchors the Giants rotation. He is one of their most prominent clubhouse leaders and one of top-ranked pitchers in baseball. Two years ago, he finished second in the National League Cy Young voting. Last year, he earned his first All-Star selection.

This year, was the Giants’ Opening Day starter for the fourth straight season.

Prior to the season, Webb was voted by fans in Richmond as one of the three starting pitchers on the All-Diamond Team, recognizing the top MLB stars who came through Richmond over the last four decades. He is joined on that list by John Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

“That’s a crazy list to be on with those two guys,” Webb said. “Two Hall of Famers. Two of the best pitchers of all time. It’s really cool that the fans are saying that.

“I had a blast playing there. I loved my time there.”