Matt Strahm, a fan favorite in Philadelphia, has been traded by the Phillies to the Kansas City Royals for right-handed pitcher Jonathan Bowlan, the Phillies announced Friday morning.
The 34-year-old Strahm appeared in 188 games (10 starts) for the Phillies over three seasons (2023-25), going 17-10 with a 2.71 ERA (64 ER, 212.2 IP). A native of West Fargo, North Dakota he signed with the Phillies as a free agent on Dec. 9, 2022, and was originally selected by the Royals in the 21st round of the 2012 MLB Draft.
Bowlan, 29, pitched in a career-high 34 games (1 start) with the Royals in 2025 and posted a 3.86 ERA (19 ER, 44.1 IP) with a 1.22 WHIP and a 25.6% strikeout rate (46 SO/180 BF), which ranked 13th among American League Rookies.
Bowlan held right-handed hitters to a .182/.255/.250 slash line, and his .182 opponent’s average ranked second among all major league rookies (min. 85 BF) behind Pittsburgh’s Isaac Mattson (.155). Additionally, his 49.1% ground ball rate ranked third among AL rookie relievers.
Originally selected by Kansas City in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Bowlan earned his first major league win last season in 1.1 innings of relief on May 21 at San Francisco. He also struck out 14 batters without allowing a hit across a career-high 10.2-inning scoreless streak from July 30-Sept. 8.
Bowlan threw 126 sinkers last year and limited opponents to a .161 slugging percentage with a 10.7% hard-hit rate. Among the 296 pitchers in baseball who threw at least 100 sinkers last season, he ranked second in opponent’s slugging percentage behind only Brad Keller (.147) and third in hard-hit rate, trailing only Calvin Faucher (0.0%) and Keller (7.7%).
The 6-foot-6 native of Arlington, Tenn., also made 24 appearances with triple-A Omaha last season and went 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA (9 ER, 36.0 IP), 45 strikeouts to 11 walks and a .178 opponent’s average. For his career, Bowlan has appeared in 37 major league games (3 starts) over parts of the last three seasons with the Royals.
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