Gloversville-Siena Saint Major League Debut Not As Easy As 1-2-3

Whenever you see a 29 year-old make his Major League debut, it is special. Baseball fans, coaches and players know that you have to endure a lot to crack the big leagues at that later stage. It's even more special when that player grew up in the Capital Region and played his college baseball at Siena.

Gloversville, New York native and Siena College Baseball star Matt Gage made his Major League debut on Monday for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Broadalbin-Perth High School graduate made it look easy with a perfect 1-2-3 inning to close out Toronto's 8-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The inning certainly wasn't reflective of the former Saint's journey to the show.

Gage starred for Siena from 2012-14, before becoming the fourth highest Major League Baseball draft pick in program history following his sensational junior season when he established a then program single-season record with 90 strikeouts. A 2013 First Team All-MAAC selection as a sophomore, he was also named a Cape Cod League All-Star for the Chatham Anglers that summer.

Gage capped his collegiate career by earning Fort Worth Regional All-Tournament Team honors in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, following a masterful 10-inning, 130-pitch performance in which he allowed just one run in a narrow 2-1 loss in 11 innings against host and 16th ranked TCU. He currently ranks third all-time in Siena history with 212 career strikeouts.

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Matt Gage became the fifth player in Siena Baseball history to appear in a Major League Baseball game, and the first since John Lannan pitched for the New York Mets in 2014. Lannan holds a program record eight years of Major League Baseball service, pitching for the Washington Nationals (2007-12), Philadelphia Phillies (2013), and the Mets.

Billy Harrell was the first Siena Baseball player to reach "The Show," playing parts of four seasons with the Cleveland Indians (1955, 1957-58) and Boston Red Sox (1961), while Gary Holle appeared in five games for the Texas Rangers in 1979, and Tim Christman made one appearance for the Colorado Rockies in 2001.

A 10th Round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants in 2014, the 29-year-old Gage has spent parts of eight seasons in affiliated baseball, pitching in the minor leagues for four different Major League Baseball organizations in the San Francisco Giants (2014-18), New York Mets (2018), Arizona Diamondbacks (2021), and Toronto Blue Jays (2022). In 165 career minor league appearances (95 starts), he has posted a collective 35-39 overall record with a 3.97 earned run average and 493 strikeouts over 596 innings pitched. A long journey for a dream realized. Congratulations Matt!