Last offseason in February, the Houston Astros took a chance on a pitcher who had been a minor league player for the majority of his career.
After being selected in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants, Matt Gage bounced around a few different organizations, and even the Mexican League for a season, before making his debut in 2022 with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The left-hander appeared in 11 games that year, posting an ERA of 1.38 across 13 innings pitched, before being designated for assignment in January 2023 after the Blue Jays added another reliever Major League reliever.
The Astros pounced, optioning Gage to Triple-A after claiming him off waivers.
Once Luis Garcia hit the 15-day injured list with his elbow injury, the lefty was called up. He appeared in only five games for Houston, recording a 2.70 ERA over 6 2/3 innings pitched after bouncing back and forth between their Triple-A affiliate and the Major League roster.
Overall, he pitched in 34 games at the Triple-A level, recording an ERA of 4.58 across 37 1/3 innings.
Now, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the New York Yankees have claimed Gage off waivers after the Astros had to make room for their new signing Josh Hader.
Gage is a native of upstate New York and likely will start out in the Yankees' pipeline and be on standby as an option in case there is injury or poor performance from others within their bullpen.
It's not a major loss for Houston.
Gage is a fringe player and they had to risk losing someone to add Hader to their roster.
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