Journeyman SF Giants reliever's payoff time has arrived after a very long wait

With the SF Giants bullpen showing some cracks after getting off to a surprisingly strong start, left-handed reliever Matt Gage has become a dependable arm for the team that drafted him back in 2014.

On Wednesday afternoon, the 33-year-old finally earned his first big-league win after relieving starter Tyler Mahle in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first. He stranded that runner by striking out lefty Brandon Marsh and Rafael Devers then homered in the bottom of the inning to break the scoreless tie, eventually handing Gage his first career victory.

Matt Gage has quickly become a reliable SF Giants bullpen arm

It’s been a long and bumpy road to success for the burly reliever. Gage recently spoke about that road with reporter Justice delos Santos in a fascinating interview. He bounced around multiple minor-league teams, received a few opportunities in the majors that didn't really pan out, and even pitched in Mexico in 2019 before rejoining the Giants in 2025.

His change in fortune appears to have come during the COVID offseason, when he first adopted an unorthodox approach: using his wife as a batter in the box. Paige, who played college softball at Siena University, helped him figure out which arm slot was most effective. Her experience and perspective as a softball hitter proved instrumental, as she noticed that one particular arm slot made every pitch sharper. Matt stuck with it, and the first pitch he tracked after those sessions with his partner reached 94 miles per hour, more than two ticks faster than his previous top velocity. He still uses it to this day.

The long road to becoming an MLB regular

Gage was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 298th pick in the 2014 MLB Draft out of Siena University. That's when the long journey started. He finally made his major-league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022, tossing a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts. Prior to that, he had traversed through multiple organizations, including the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, and Arizona Diamondbacks, but never got a chance to take the mound for them in the big leagues.

After making 11 relief appearances combined for the Astros and Tigers from 2023 to 2025, Gage eventually returned to the organization that drafted him when the Giants signed him as a free agent on July 2, 2025. The best and steadiest stretch of his career followed, as he appeared in 27 games and posted a 3.91 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in those outings.

The then-rookie had never pitched at Oracle Park until he finally ran out of the Giants' bullpen on July 18 against the Blue Jays. Until then, his only memory of Oracle was a conditioning drill he had to complete as part of a week-long rookie camp. The drill consisted of zigzagging through the upper-deck stairs from left field all the way to right field and back again. The goal was to finish it in under 35 minutes. He did it in 38. I can feel my legs burning just by typing it.

Despite appearing in games for several organizations throughout his 12-year career, one thing Gage had seldom experienced at that point was being brought back to spring training by the same team he ended the season with. The last club to do it? The Giants in 2018 when he was on a minor-league contract

His value to the Giants’ bullpen

Matt Gage entered 2026 spring training in unfamiliar territory. For the first time in his career, he had come off a productive season and had expectations attached to his name. It was his job to lose.

But instead of buckling under the pressure, he rose to the occasion and proved he deserved a spot on the Opening Day roster. He allowed just two runs over his 6 1/3 innings pitched in Arizona and posted a 0.47 WHIP. Most significantly, he held the six lefty batters he faced hitless.

So when manager Tony Vitello called him into his office the day before Opening Night — with Jayce Tingler, Buster Posey and Zack Minasian also present — he felt like he had done enough. And he had.

For the first time in his career, Gage was on a major-league roster for Opening Night, in what felt like a full-circle moment. While he didn't cry when his manager broke the news to him that he had made the roster, the pregame pageantry got him misty-eyed.

"The national anthem and the fly over on Opening Night versus the Yankees, I definitely teared up on the line," he admitted to Justice delos Santos.

Since then, Gage has been lethal out of the Giants’ bullpen. None of the 10 left-handed batters he has faced so far has recorded a hit. Make that 16 if you include spring training.

He remains one of three relievers — along with Caleb Kilian (who has a similar story to Gage as he was drafted by the Giants before taking a circuitous route to pitching in the big leagues with San Francisco) and Blade Tidwell — yet to allow a run this season.

His first career win was the cherry on top of the best 10-month stretch of his baseball journey. And the good news is, he’s not expecting it to end anytime soon. In what could be a grueling and stressful season for the bullpen, Matt Gage might just be the soothing presence Giants fans have been begging for. At least, that’s what he's shown so far.