What years did Matt Cain play?

Matt Cain played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2017.

Was Matt Cain a pitcher?

Yes. Matt Cain pitched in the major leagues, recording 104 wins and 1694 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Matt Cain hit?

Matt Cain hit 7 career home runs with 74 hits.

What was Matt Cain's career batting average?

Matt Cain batted .121 over his career, with 74 hits in 611 at bats.

How many RBI did Matt Cain have?

Matt Cain drove in 34 runs in his career.

What was Matt Cain's career ERA?

Matt Cain finished with a 3.68 career ERA, going 104-118 with 1,694 strikeouts.

Matt Cain

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2005-2017)

Matt Cain was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2017 for the San Francisco Giants, a span of 13 seasons. Across 342 career appearances, he went 104-118 with a 3.68 ERA and 1,694 strikeouts. He also batted .121 with 7 home runs. Matt Cain was a 3-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 14596.3.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 104–118

ERA 3.68

WHIP 1.23

SO 1,694

Pitcher PIV 14596.3

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 230 lb
Born: 10/1/1984 in Dothan, AL, USA
MLB Debut: 2005-08-29
Last Game: 2017-09-30
Awards: 3× All-Star

Full name: Matthew Thomas Cain

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Career Pitching Statistics

Matt Cain — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
104	118	342	331	15	6	0	2085.2	1,849	853	211	712	1,694	3.68	14596.3

Career ERA 3.68 vs. league average 4.16 across their career seasons — 11.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Matt Cain Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2005	SFN	NL	2	1	7	7	1	0	46.1	24	12	19	30	2.33	4.29 (+46%)	249.5
2006	SFN	NL	13	12	32	31	1	1	190.2	157	88	87	179	4.15	4.53 (+8%)	2809.5
2007	SFN	NL	7	16	32	32	1	0	200.0	173	81	79	163	3.65	4.47 (+19%)	3610.1
2008	SFN	NL	8	14	34	34	1	1	217.2	206	91	91	186	3.76	4.32 (+13%)	2361.5
2009	SFN	NL	14	8	33	33	4	0	217.2	184	70	73	171	2.89	4.32 (+33%)	2470.1
2010	SFN	NL	13	11	33	33	4	2	223.1	181	78	61	177	3.14	4.08 (+23%)	2523.4
2011	SFN	NL	12	11	33	33	1	0	221.2	177	71	63	179	2.88	3.94 (+27%)	5967.2
2012	SFN	NL	16	5	32	32	2	2	219.1	177	68	51	193	2.79	4.01 (+30%)	3521.2
2013	SFN	NL	8	10	30	30	0	0	184.1	158	82	55	158	4.00	3.87 (-4%)	-307.1
2014	SFN	NL	2	7	15	15	0	0	90.1	81	42	32	70	4.18	3.74 (-12%)	-1901.1
2015	SFN	NL	2	4	13	11	0	0	60.2	71	39	20	41	5.79	3.96 (-46%)	-2394.4
2016	SFN	NL	4	8	21	17	0	0	89.1	103	56	32	72	5.64	4.19 (-35%)	-2119.9
2017	SFN	NL	3	11	27	23	0	0	124.1	157	75	49	75	5.43	4.36 (-25%)	-2193.9
Career · 13 seasons			104	118	342	331	15	6	2,085.2	1,849	853	712	1,694	3.68	—	14,596

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Matt Cain — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
349	611	27	74	13	1	7	34	0	21	308	.121	.151	.180	.331	-4,347

Career AVG .121 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 53.2% below league average.

Career OBP .151 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 53.5% below league average.

Career SLG .180 vs. league average .411 across their career seasons — 56.2% below league average.

Career OPS .331 vs. league average .736 across their career seasons — 55.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Matt Cain Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2005	SFN	NL	7	15	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	6	.067	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	SFN	NL	32	57	1	8	2	0	0	1	1	28	.140	.269 (-48%)	.336 (-54%)	.431 (-59%)	.768 (-57%)	-546.9
2007	SFN	NL	32	57	3	4	0	0	2	4	2	32	.070	.268 (-74%)	.335 (-70%)	.422 (-58%)	.758 (-63%)	-610.2
2008	SFN	NL	34	62	3	7	1	0	2	3	4	34	.113	.263 (-57%)	.333 (-50%)	.416 (-46%)	.749 (-48%)	-495.5
2009	SFN	NL	33	60	2	9	2	1	0	3	4	31	.150	.262 (-43%)	.332 (-39%)	.417 (-48%)	.750 (-44%)	-444.5
2010	SFN	NL	35	66	3	7	1	0	0	1	1	33	.106	.257 (-59%)	.325 (-63%)	.402 (-70%)	.728 (-67%)	-707.0
2011	SFN	NL	35	66	5	9	1	0	1	6	3	30	.136	.255 (-47%)	.320 (-47%)	.399 (-51%)	.719 (-49%)	-524.1
2012	SFN	NL	35	74	6	13	2	0	1	6	2	33	.176	.254 (-31%)	.318 (-38%)	.405 (-40%)	.724 (-39%)	-464.6
2013	SFN	NL	30	52	0	5	0	0	0	2	2	22	.096	.253 (-62%)	.317 (-59%)	.396 (-76%)	.714 (-68%)	-554.7
2014	SFN	NL	15	27	1	4	0	0	0	0	2	13	.148	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	SFN	NL	13	16	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	9	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2016	SFN	NL	21	27	1	2	1	0	1	5	0	17	.074	—	—	—	—	0.0
2017	SFN	NL	27	32	1	5	2	0	0	2	0	20	.156	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			349	611	27	74	13	1	7	34	21	308	.121	—	—	—	—	-4,347

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Matt Cain — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
8	16	0	4	0	0	0	2	0	9	.250

Playoff Batting by Year

Matt Cain — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	H	RBI	SO	AVG
2012	NLCS	SFN	2	5	2	1	3	.400
2012	NLDS2	SFN	2	4	0	0	2	.000
2012	WS	SFN	1	0	0	0	0	.000
2010	NLCS	SFN	1	2	0	0	2	.000
2010	NLDS2	SFN	1	2	1	1	1	.500
2010	WS	SFN	1	3	1	0	1	.333

Playoff Career Pitching

Matt Cain — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
4	2	8	8	0	51.1	40	12	14	33	2.10

Playoff Pitching by Year

Matt Cain — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2012	NLCS	SFN	1	1	2	2	12.1	11	3	2	6	2.19
2012	NLDS2	SFN	1	1	2	2	10.2	11	6	3	9	5.06
2012	WS	SFN	0	0	1	1	7.0	5	3	2	5	3.86
2010	NLCS	SFN	1	0	1	1	7.0	2	0	3	5	0.00
2010	NLDS2	SFN	0	0	1	1	6.2	7	0	2	6	0.00
2010	WS	SFN	1	0	1	1	7.2	4	0	2	2	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (691 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Matt Cain — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	183	303	18	41	5	17	.135
Away	166	308	9	33	2	17	.107

Pitching — Home / Away

Matt Cain — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	179	1111.2	933	412	377	893	3.34
Away	163	974.0	916	441	335	801	4.07

Last 10 Games — Batting

Matt Cain — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	SO
2017-09-30	SFG	SDP	L	2	0	2
2017-08-31	SFG	STL	L	1	0	1
2017-08-27	SFG	AZ	L	0	0	0
2017-08-21	SFG	MIL	W	0	0	0
2017-08-16	SFG	MIA	L	2	0	1
2017-08-07	SFG	CHC	L	0	0	0
2017-07-31	SFG	OAK	L	0	0	0
2017-07-24	SFG	PIT	L	1	0	1
2017-07-19	SFG	CLE	W	2	1	1
2017-07-09	SFG	MIA	L	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Matt Cain — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2017-09-30	SFG	SDP	—	5.0	2	0	0	1	4	0
2017-08-31	SFG	STL	L	5.0	7	2	2	0	2	1
2017-08-27	SFG	AZ	—	0.2	5	8	8	2	0	2
2017-08-21	SFG	MIL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2017-08-16	SFG	MIA	L	4.0	5	5	2	1	7	0
2017-08-07	SFG	CHC	—	3.0	4	0	0	1	1	0
2017-07-31	SFG	OAK	—	5.0	7	2	2	3	1	0
2017-07-24	SFG	PIT	L	4.0	6	6	2	1	1	1
2017-07-19	SFG	CLE	—	6.0	5	3	3	2	5	0
2017-07-09	SFG	MIA	—	0.1	0	0	0	2	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Matt Cain — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	342	331	131	229	17	16

Season-by-Season Fielding

Matt Cain — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2005	SFN	P	7	7	1	2	1	0
2006	SFN	P	32	31	17	15	3	0
2007	SFN	P	32	32	6	25	0	2
2008	SFN	P	34	34	14	24	0	3
2009	SFN	P	33	33	17	22	0	1
2010	SFN	P	33	33	9	24	2	0
2011	SFN	P	33	33	14	23	3	0
2012	SFN	P	32	32	10	24	2	1
2013	SFN	P	30	30	12	25	1	2
2014	SFN	P	15	15	12	12	2	1
2015	SFN	P	13	11	2	4	0	0
2016	SFN	P	21	17	5	11	2	3
2017	SFN	P	27	23	12	18	1	3

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Matt Cain Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	342

Awards & Honors

Matt Cain — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
2012	Player of the Week	Week of 2012-06-17
2012	This Year in Baseball Pitching Performance of the Year	MLB.com GIBBY

Salary History

Matt Cain — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2016	SFN	NL	$20,833,333
2015	SFN	NL	$21,000,000
2014	SFN	NL	$20,000,000
2013	SFN	NL	$20,833,333
2012	SFN	NL	$15,333,333
2011	SFN	NL	$7,333,333
2010	SFN	NL	$4,583,333
2009	SFN	NL	$2,900,000
2008	SFN	NL	$950,000
2007	SFN	NL	$650,000
2006	SFN	NL	$328,000
Total Career Earnings			$114,744,665

Award Voting History

Matt Cain — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
2012	Cy Young Award	NL	6th	22.0	224
2011	Cy Young Award	NL	8th	3.0	224
2010	Cy Young Award	NL	12th	1.0	224
2006	Rookie of the Year	NL	5th	4.0	160

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Matt Cain (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Matt Cain

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Matt Cain: the record in brief

Matt Cain's major league career runs from a debut on August 29, 2005 to a final game on September 30, 2017. All of the seasons listed were played for the San Francisco Giants. Born on October 1, 1984, in Dothan, AL, USA, Cain is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. The bio gives 6'3" and 230 pounds. Matt Cain was the playing name; the full given name is Matthew Thomas.

Cain's career pitching line is 104 wins, 118 losses and a 3.68 ERA over 342 appearances. The totals include 1,694 strikeouts, 15 complete games, and 6 shutouts. Against a 4.16 league ERA for the same years, Cain was 11.5% better. Cain won 16 games in 2012, the most of any season listed. 2012 was Cain's sharpest full season, a 2.79 ERA against the league's 4.01. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 14,596.3 for Cain's career.

Frequently Asked Questions about Matt Cain

What years did Matt Cain play?: Matt Cain played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2017.
Was Matt Cain a pitcher?: Yes. Matt Cain pitched in the major leagues, recording 104 wins and 1694 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Matt Cain hit?: Matt Cain hit 7 career home runs with 74 hits.
What was Matt Cain's career batting average?: Matt Cain batted .121 over his career, with 74 hits in 611 at bats.
How many RBI did Matt Cain have?: Matt Cain drove in 34 runs in his career.
What was Matt Cain's career ERA?: Matt Cain finished with a 3.68 career ERA, going 104-118 with 1,694 strikeouts.