The Astros claimed lefthanded reliever Matt Gage off waivers Monday, a week after he was let loose by the Blue Jays. Gage broke in with Toronto last June, but despite posting a 1.38 ERA over 11 appearances, he spent most of the season in Triple-A. Here's the full entry on Gage from Major League Debuts.
Matt Gage, LHP, Blue Jays
B-T: L-L HT: 6-3 WT: 265 Born: Feb. 11, 1993, Johnstown, N.Y.
Debut Age: 29
Debut: June 6. After waiting eight years to reach the big leagues,
Gage was forced to hold tight for an additional two hours and five minutes when
Toronto’s contest in Kansas City didn’t start on time due to inclement weather.
It was nearly midnight when the lefthander
came on in the bottom of the ninth with Toronto comfortably ahead of Kansas
City 8-0. He set down all three batters he faced, retiring Whit Merrifield on a
grounder to short and striking out Kyle Isbel and Bobby Witt Jr., both on
cutters, to finish off the win.
Background: Gage struck out
138 batters in 85 innings over his final two seasons at Broadalbin-Perth HS in
Upstate New York, and earned Class B fifth-team all-state honors as a senior in
2011. After breaking in at Siena in a variety of roles his freshman year, he
was a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference first-team pick as a sophomore, when
he went 6-6 with a 3.42 ERA in 97.1 innings. Gage spent the summer of 2013 with
Chatham, and was named a Cape Cod League All-Star after going 4-2 in seven starts
with a 3.89 ERA. He helped Siena reach the NCAA Regionals in 2014, capping his
career with a 10-inning, 130-pitch effort against host Texas Christian. Gage
allowed only one run in the contest, which TCU won 2-1 in 11 innings, and was
named to the Fort Worth Regional All-Tournament Team. Later that week, he was
selected by the Giants in the 10th round of the draft. He profiled
as a workhorse who threw strikes and kept hitters guessing with a variety of
pitches, none of which were particularly outstanding. Gage reached Double-A the
year after he signed, and Triple-A the following season. But he struggled to
make an impact in two shots with the Giants’ top affiliate, surrendering 182
hits in 120.1 innings, leading to his release in July 2018. Gage hooked on with
the Mets for the remainder of the season, after which his journey began to wind
off course. He spent 2019 in Mexico, winning 10 games for the Diablos Rojos
despite a 5.57 ERA. He enjoyed the experience enough that he was planning to
return before COVID hit in 2020. It was during the shutdown that Gage’s
fortunes turned. After watching White Sox starter Lucas Giolito throw with a
short-arm delivery, Gage decided to experiment with his own mechanics. Suddenly
his fastball was up to 94 mph, faster than ever before. All of his pitches had
more life. He tested his new delivery out in the independent Constellation
Energy League that summer, then worked on it further yet in the Mexican Pacific
League that offseason. The Diamondbacks were impressed enough to offer a minor
league deal for 2021. He struck out 58 in 45.1 innings at two stops, working
exclusively as a reliever for the first time, and heard from several teams
intrigued by his pitch metrics when the minor league free agency window opened
that fall.
2022 Season: Gage signed with the Blue Jays, who sold him on how
they could help him develop. He reported to training camp in January and
altered the grip on his slider to give it more horizontal movement. Toronto had
him attack the center of the zone and allow the movement on his pitches to
locate the ball for him. With a fastball, cutter, slider arsenal, he carved up
batters at Triple-A Buffalo, logging a 1.08 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over the first
two months of the season to finally earn that big-league callup. He did
everything Toronto could have hoped for and more, limiting hitters to a .146
average in 11 outings. Lefthanded batters went 0-for-9 against him. Despite all
that, he was squeezed back down to Buffalo in early July and finished out the
year in the International League.
Outlook: If the Blue Jays can’t find room for Gage, someone else will. He has turned himself into a legit bullpen option, particularly against lefthanded batters.
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