The Kansas City Royals have acquired left-handed reliever Matt Strahm from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-hander Jonathan Bowlan, the team announced Friday.
We have acquired LHP Matt Strahm from the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Jonathan Bowlan.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) December 19, 2025
Strahm, 34, had spent each of the past three seasons with the Phillies, appearing in 182 ballgames while posting a 2.89 earned-run average and a 0.955 WHIP.
The West Fargo, ND native now reunites with the Royals after being drafted by the team in the 21st round of the 2012 June Amateur Draft.
The 6-foot-2 southpaw spent three seasons in Kansas City to begin his big league career before being traded to the San Diego Padres in July 2017.
Strahm is set to enter the final year of his contract in 2026, and owns a 3.36 ERA with 582 strikeouts across 517.1 innings pitched between the Royals, Padres, Boston Red Sox, and Phillies.
Bowlan, 29, logged 44.1 innings pitched for the Royals last year and posted a 3.86 ERA, 1.2128 WHIP, and 46 strikeouts.
The Arlington, Tenn. native was drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft by Kansas City, and broke out in 2025 after pitching just 5.2 innings in the Majors across the first two years of his career.
Earlier this week, Philadelphia agreed to a two-year contract with Brad Keller, who now figures to replace Strahm in high leverage out of the bullpen.