Underrated SF Giants reliever has emerged as a key part of the bullpen

Last week, Matt Gage notched his first career win 12 years after the SF Giants selected him in the 10th round of the 2014 draft. The veteran reliever has quietly emerged as an underrated part of the bullpen in the early going.

Underrated SF Giants reliever has emerged as a key part of the bullpen

The Giants began this season with three left-handed relievers. This included Gage, along with Ryan Borucki and Erik Miller. 

On paper, they should feel comfortable about having that many options from the left side. It has not exactly played out that way.

Miller has been a mixed bag through five outings, which is too small of a sample to draw any hard conclusions. Borucki has continued a trend of being excellent against left-handed hitters and unplayable against right-handed hitters.

That profile had value prior to the three-batter minimum going into effect. Putting Borucki in any spot to face a righty bat is a bad process, which is also hard to avoid with pinch hitters and the way lineups are configured. Teams almost never stack three left-handed hitters in a row.

That is going to be a tough nuance for Tony Vitello to manage.

Then, there is Matt Gage. Gage joined the Giants midway through last season on a minor league deal. He put up a respectable 3.91 ERA in 27 appearances for San Francisco down the stretch. This is also a reminder that teams can often find reliable bullpen arms throughout the year. That unit will always look different at the end of the year than it did at the start of the season. 

Due to trades and injuries, the southpaw reliever was thrust into more of a leverage role than fits his profile. That said, he held left-handed hitters to a .591 OPS, compared to an .829 OPS against right-handed hitters.

The Giants are not going to like their odds in any matchup with Gage facing a right-handed hitter, but at least he did not allow a home run last year. In fact, he only allowed four extra-base hits, all doubles, in 65 plate appearances in those matchups. These are not strong matchup splits, but much more passable than Borucki. 

Through the first couple of weeks, Gage has quickly and quietly emerged as a reliable reliever in Tony Vitello’s bullpen. He has not allowed a run in seven outings. It is also apparent that Vitello has confidence in the lefty reliever to get him out of a jam.