Background and career
Matthew Thomas Cain (born October 1, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the San Francisco Giants from 2005 to 2017. A three-time World Series champion and a three-time National League (NL) All-Star, he is widely regarded as a central figure of the Giants' success in the 2010s for his pitching and leadership. The Giants drafted Cain out of high school in 2002, and he made his MLB debut at age 20 in 2005, becoming the youngest player in the NL that year. In 2009, Cain was named to his first career All-Star team and won the Willie Mac Award. During the 2010 MLB postseason, he did not allow an earned run in any of the three playoff games he pitched in as the Giants won their first World Series since 1954. In 2012, Cain signed a contract extension that, at the time, gave him the most lucrative contract ever received by a right-handed pitcher in major league history. Cain threw the 22nd perfect game in big league history on June 13, 2012. He had a 16–5 record during the 2012 regular season, finishing sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting. During the Giants' playoff run that led to their victory in the 2012 World Series, the team won every series-clinching playoff game that Cain started.
Matthew Thomas Cain was born on October 1, 1984, in Dothan, Alabama, to Tom and Dolores Cain. He lived in Vincent, Alabama, for a year when his mother taught at a school nearby. Cain also spent part of his childhood in Germantown, Tennessee, where he attended Houston High School. He took lessons on how to pitch from Mauro Gozzo, who lived near the Cains in Tennessee. As a senior at Houston High School, Cain struck out 83 batters in 62 innings pitched while recording a 1.03 earned run average (ERA). Cain signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for the Memphis Tigers.
Cain was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (25th overall) in the 2002 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. He began his professional career in 2002 with the rookie Arizona League Giants. In eight games (seven starts), he had an 0–1 record, a 3.72 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and 11 walks in 19+1⁄3 innings pitched. He spent 2003 with the Hagerstown Suns of the Single-A South Atlantic League. In 14 starts for the Suns, he had a 4–4 record, a 2.55 ERA, 90 strikeouts, and 24 walks in 74 innings pitched. Prior to 2004, Cain was ranked the number two prospect in the Giants' organization (behind Merkin Valdez) by Baseball America. Cain spent 2004 with two teams. He began the season with the San Jose Giants of the Single-A advanced California League. In 13 starts, he had a 7–1 record, a 1.86 ERA, 89 strikeouts, and 17 walks in 72+2⁄3 innings pitched. In June, he was promoted to the Norwich Navigators of the Double-A Eastern League. In 15 starts, he had a 6–4 record, a 3.35 ERA, 72 strikeouts, and 40 walks in 86 innings pitched. Cain led Giants' minor league prospects in wins, strikeouts, and ERA; he was named the Giants' Organizational Player of the Year. Baseball America ranked Cain as the 13th-best prospect in baseball in 2005, as well as the Giants' top prospect. Cain attended spring training in 2005, but he began the season with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL). In 26 starts, Cain had a 10–5 record and 145+2⁄3 innings pitched. He finished fifth (tied with R. A. Dickey and Adam Wainwright) in the PCL in wins and fourth with a 4.39 ERA (behind Kevin Jarvis's 3.38, Chris Oxspring's 4.03, and Édgar González's 4.37). He led the league with 176 strikeouts.
Cain was called up to the Giants on August 26, 2005, to join their rotation. When he was called up, Cain was the second youngest player in the major leagues (Félix Hernández of the Seattle Mariners was the youngest). On August 29 at SBC Park, Cain made his major league debut against the Colorado Rockies at the age of 20. Cain struck out second baseman Luis González looking in the top of the first inning for his first major league strikeout. He gave up only three hits and two runs in five innings but ended up losing the game. On September 4 at Bank One Ballpark, in a 3–2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cain allowed one run in seven innings, earning his first major league victory. In his next start on September 9 at home, in a 2–1 win over the Chicago Cubs, Cain struck out a season-high eight batters and notched his first major league complete game, which was also his first major league two-hitter. Leading off the bottom of the seventh inning, Cain hit a 3-2 pitch line drive double to left field off of starting pitcher Jerome Williams for his first career major league hit and double. Cain finished his first season with seven starts over 46+1⁄3 innings in which he posted a 2–1 record, 30 strikeouts, a 2.33 ERA, a 0.928 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP), and a minuscule .151 opponent batting average.
Cain's 2005 performance was impressive enough that manager Felipe Alou named him to the team's 2006 starting rotation before spring training began. Cain began the season as the team's fourth starter. Entering the season, he was again ranked as the Giants' top prospect by Baseball America, which also named him the 10th-best prospect in baseball. In 2006, Cain struggled with consistency, but showed signs of dominance in several starts, flirting with a no-hitter on more than one occasion. On April 24 at AT&T Park, in a 6–2 win over the New York Mets, Cain did not allow a base runner until the sixth inning. On May 5 at Citizens Bank Park, in the top of the fourth inning, Cain hit a fly ball single to right field off of Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Gavin Floyd for his first career major league single. On May 21 at McAfee Coliseum, in a 6–0 win over the Oakland Athletics, Cain pitched his first career major league complete game shutout and one-hitter. On June 19 at AT&T Park, in a 2–1 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cain pitched 7+2⁄3 innings of no-hit ball before finally surrendering a single to center fielder Chone Figgins and struck out a then-season-high 10 batters, his first career major league double-digit strikeout game. Two starts later on July 1 at Petco Park, in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres, Cain struck out a new season-high 11 batters. Late in the season, Cain increased his chances for Rookie of the Year consideration with a run of remarkable pitching. On August 6 at AT&T Park, in a 6–2 win over the Colorado Rockies, Cain struck out a season-high and a then career-high 12 batters. Cain also knocked in his first career major league run batted in. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Cain hit a line drive RBI single on the first pitch he saw off of starting pitcher Aaron Cook to center field, scoring first baseman Mark Sweeney, moving third baseman Pedro Feliz to third base and catcher Eliézer Alfonzo to second base, making the score 5–2. From August 17 to September 14, Cain recorded a 5–0 record with an ERA of 0.21. During this streak, he allowed just one earned run in 42 innings—and did not allow an earned run in 30+2⁄3 innings. He led all National League (NL) rookie pitchers with 13 wins, 179 strikeouts, and 190+2⁄3 innings pitched in 2006. His 2006 record was 13–12, with a 4.15 ERA. Cain finished in a fifth-place tie with Los Angeles Dodgers rookie outfielder Andre Ethier in the NL Rookie of the Year Award voting.
Cain began 2007 as the Giants' number two starter. In April, he had a 1.54 ERA with 12 hits in 35 innings pitched. On April 22 at AT&T Park, in a 2–1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, he pitched a complete game allowing one run (in the ninth) and three hits. It was the third complete game of his young career. Cain's record through August 3 was 3–12. He had limited opponents to a batting average of .238 against him during that stretch. The Giants scored two or fewer runs in 20 of Cain's first 30 starts. Additionally, the bullpen blew four leads behind him. Cain went 4–1 over his next five starts. This stretch was bolstered in part by a power surge at the plate by Cain himself. He hit his first and second career home runs in these starts. On August 8 at AT&T Park, in an 5–0 win over the Washington Nationals, Cain hit first career majorlLeague home run, a line drive solo home run to deep left field off of starting pitcher Tim Redding in the bottom of the fifth inning, making the score 3–0. On August 23 at AT&T Park, in an 4–1 win over the Chicago Cubs, Cain hit second home run, a fly ball two-run home run to deep left field off of starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring catcher Guillermo Rodríguez and making the score 4–0. In September, he had an 0–3 record. Cain finished the season with the 10th-lowest ERA in the NL at 3.65. He had a 7–16 record; his 16 losses were second in the league (Kip Wells had 17). The Giants went 9–23 in his starts; the bullpen lost leads in five of his starts and the team scored 2 runs or fewer in 21 of his starts. He had 163 strikeouts and 79 walks in 200 innings pitched; he led the league with 12 wild pitches.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
