Giants left-hander Matt Gage is the epitome of a journeyman.
The 33-year-old reliever was selected by the Giants in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., but he never reached the Majors in his first stint with the club. He climbed as high as Triple-A Sacramento before he was released in July 2018, setting him on a winding path that would take him through six other big league organizations -- the Mets, D-backs, Blue Jays, Astros, Dodgers and Tigers -- two independent leagues and stops in Mexico.
Gage’s long trek eventually led him back to the Giants, who re-signed him to a Minor League deal last July. He ended up making his long-awaited San Francisco debut on July 18, 2025 -- 11 years after he was first drafted by the club.
There were plenty of moments along the way when Gage thought about quitting. But he kept going, in part because of the constant support and encouragement he received from his wife, Paige, a former standout softball player at Siena who helped him make a mechanical change that ultimately revived his career.
“I probably would have quit a long time ago [without her],” Gage said ahead of Players’ Weekend, which gives big leaguers a chance to show appreciation for the people who helped them realize their baseball dreams. “You’re trying to do stuff on your own so much. It's tough to just be looking in the mirror all the time and not be banging your head against the wall. Whereas when I have my wife, I can bounce ideas off her, so it's a little bit more of a conversation. I can constantly have that.”
Paige has watched Gage pitch since college, so she’s become an expert on his mechanics. She’s gotten used to serving as his catch-play partner in the offseason and will occasionally stand in the batter’s box to offer feedback on how his pitches are moving.
Those insights helped Gage reach a key breakthrough in 2020, when he was stuck at his home in Delaware after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the baseball season. Gage was out of affiliated ball at that point and had been preparing to play a second season with the Diablos Rojos of the Mexican League, but he felt inspired to try something new after watching Lucas Giolito develop into a 2019 All-Star for the White Sox by shortening his arm action.
Gage asked Paige to stand in the box as he toyed around with a new, shortened-up arm motion like Giolito’s. She quickly saw that the changes helped his stuff play up more than they had from his old low, three-quarters delivery.
“The biggest thing is that she was with me in college, and she saw where my mechanics started,” Gage said. “She saw where my mechanics got me to in the Giants’ system when I was younger. She saw how I fizzled out, and I wasn't really that good. Then I went to Mexico and saw where that got me. When I came back for COVID, it was like, ‘Hey, I'm going to try to change something. Just stand in the batter's box, give me a visual, see what the pitches are doing.’ When I changed my mechanics, everything started looking a little bit better.”
The tweaks resulted in a jump in velocity for Gage, who went on to pitch in the independent Constellation Energy League and the Mexican Winter League before earning a Minor League deal with the D-backs in 2021. The next year, he found a new opportunity with the Blue Jays, who ended up calling him up for his big league debut on June 6, 2022.
Four years later, Gage earned a spot on his first Opening Day roster with the Giants and emerged as one of the club’s most dependable relievers before landing on the injured list with knee and elbow injuries. He was diagnosed with a moderate left flexor strain after his velocity dropped during a rough appearance against the Rockies on July 3, but he’s been progressing well since receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection last month. He threw a live batting practice session on Wednesday and remains optimistic that he’ll be able to return from the IL before the end of the season.
Whenever he does get back on the mound, Gage knows he’ll be able to dive back into the mechanical nitty-gritty with Paige and try to find ways to prolong his pitching career as long as possible.
“Having her in my back pocket is always a good thing,” Gage said. “I always appreciate her coming to every game she can, just to see, ‘Hey, the mechanics are here, the mechanics are there.’ Because you just never know when the ride's going to be over.”