Matt Gage’s Giants reunion began like a feel-good story and ended with a whole lot of frustration.
After bouncing through Mexico, independent ball and several major-league organizations, the left-hander got another crack with San Francisco when the club signed him in July of last year. He had originally been drafted by the Giants in the 10th round in 2014, spent his first four seasons in the system and was released in July 2018. This time around, he earned his way onto the opening-day bullpen and gave the Giants real value before injuries shut everything down.
Gage’s spring training made a case for him almost immediately. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed only three hits and two earned runs, struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter. That earned him a role as a left-handed option for the 2025 season, and he backed it up right away.
He opened with a scoreless ninth inning in the Giants’ 3-0 Opening Day loss to the Yankees, the first of seven straight scoreless outings that covered 6 2/3 innings. After giving up a run in back-to-back appearances in mid-April, he steadied again and ripped off another run of 12 straight scoreless appearances. The one blemish in that stretch came on April 30, when he was tagged with an unearned run on a walk-off RBI sac fly against the Phillies.
By the end of May, Gage had made 28 appearances, logged 23 innings and posted a 1.96 ERA. He also picked up a few personal firsts along the way.
On April 8 at Oracle Park against the Phillies, he earned his first major-league win in the Giants’ 5-0 victory, 12 years after the team drafted him. Then on May 15, he got his first major-league save with a perfect ninth inning in a 6-4 win over the Athletics.
He also collected another win on May 23 after striking out four White Sox hitters in 1 1/3 innings.
June changed everything.
A few days after allowing two runs in one inning against the Brewers on June 1, Gage landed on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation. He began a rehab assignment in San Jose less than two weeks later and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings before being activated on June 17.
But the return did not hold up for long. Hours later, he struggled to retire Braves hitters, issued two walks and allowed two runs.
He made three more appearances before his final outing of the year on July 3 against the Rockies in Colorado. That game turned into a nightmare.
Gage threw a career-high 51 pitches, lasted only 1 1/3 innings and gave up six runs, including a Jake McCarthy grand slam, in a 15-3 Giants loss. His ERA jumped from 3.81 to 5.60 after the outing.
The next day, San Francisco placed him on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow strain, then moved him to the 60-day IL on August 2. He never pitched again in the 2026 season.
Gage did attempt a comeback. After three rehab assignments in Sacramento, where he allowed five earned runs over 2 1/3 innings, renewed elbow discomfort in early September forced the Giants to shut him down and end his season officially.
There was at least one small positive finish to a rough year: Gage was fully cleared for a normal offseason on September 29.
Now the question is what comes next. Gage entered the 2026 season on a one-year deal with no minor-league options available, and while he’s still on the 60-day IL, the Giants would need to tender him a contract for 2027 if they want to keep him on the 40-man roster.
His injuries clearly cloud the picture, but his early work also showed why the Giants liked him: when healthy, he looked like a capable lefty out of the bullpen. Left-handed batters hit .190 against him with a .691 OPS, though that number was skewed by an unusually high .358 on-base percentage.
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