St. Louis Cardinals: An appreciation of Tyler Webb

The bullpen has been a consistent strength for the St. Louis Cardinals, Tyler Webb has done his part.

When the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Tyler Webb on waivers from the San Diego Padres in June of 2018, the team was simply adding some depth. Webb had appeared in four games for the Padres in 2018, pitching five innings with an ERA of 12.60. Not really numbers to be excited about.

The Cardinals must have seen something they liked, though. They have been right. Since Webb has joined the Cardinals, he has quietly been a valuable piece of the bullpen puzzle. After joining the team in 2018 he pitched in 18 games with a 1.76 ERA, a dramatic improvement.

He keeps putting up good numbers and earning more opportunities in Mike Shildt’s bullpen. In 2019 he appeared in 65 games and had an ERA of 3.76. His FIP was 4.49, but still pretty solid.

So far in 2020, he has continued to impress. He boasts a 2.45 ERA in 15 games up to this point in the season and has proven that he can be an asset for a bullpen that remains the strength of the St. Louis Cardinals.

But why does he not get the respect and appreciation that he deserves?

I can’t explain it. Webb has, like most other pitchers, had some bad outings. Overall, he’s been great for the Cardinals. He’s not flashy and not a pitcher that is going to blow an upper 90 MPH fastball by a hitter. In a time where bullpens are overflowing with pitchers throwing 100+ MPH it is easy to overlook guys like Tyler Webb.

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Some fans seem to look at Webb as just a depth arm. Some people seem to get annoyed when he comes into a game. I would just point to his stats and say that it is hard to argue with the results. Webb has proven that he is more than just bullpen and roster filler. He is now an important part of the bullpen.

Tyler Webb currently sits at just under 100 innings pitched in his big league career, at 98 innings. In that time, spanning parts of four years, he has pitched in 111 games with a 3.86 ERA. He is not set to become a free agent until 2025.

As long as Webb continues to succeed, he could be a part of the bullpen for years to come. Hopefully, fans will start to appreciate his contributions to the team a little bit more. For a pitcher who came to the St. Louis Cardinals as a waiver claim, he’s been everything fans could have asked for and a lot more.