Phillies shuffle bullpen, trading Matt Strahm to Royals for Jonathan Bowlan
The Philadelphia Phillies continue to reshuffle their bullpen, trading left-handed reliever Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals on Friday. The Phillies acquired 29-year-old pitcher Jonathan Bowlan from the Royals in return.
The Strahm trade comes one day after the Phillies officially signed reliever Brad Keller to a two-year, $22 million contract.
Strahm will make $7.5 million in 2026 after his option vested when he reached 60 innings pitched. The 34-year-old was a 2.0 bWAR player last season with the Phillies, posting a 2.74 ERA in 62 1/3 innings over 66 appearances. His velocity on his four-seam fastball dipped about 1 mph from 2024, and he increased his slider to compensate. He used his slider 31.9% of the time last season, compared to 19.4% in 2024. Still, the lefty was one of manager Rob Thomson's reliable leverage relievers.
Strahm has been a mainstay in the Phillies' bullpen since he signed here as a free agent in December 2022. He finishes his Phillies career with a 2.71 ERA over 212 2/3 innings and 188 games. He made 10 starts for the club in his first season.
One of Strahm's most memorable moments as a Phillie came on July 10, 2024, when he struck out Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in the seventh inning with inherited runners on the corner. The Phils escaped the inning and beat the Dodgers, 4-3, for their 60th win of the 2024 season.
The Phillies essentially replaced Strahm in the bullpen with the righty Keller, who broke out as a high-leverage reliever with the Cubs last season. Keller made changes and saw his velocity tick up. Keller uses his changeup to get lefties out. Last season, left-handed hitters hit .223 with a .569 OPS off Keller.
Bowlan, who the Royals selected in the second round of the 2018 MLB draft, appeared in a career-high 34 games last season. He posted a 3.86 ERA in 44 1/3 innings over 34 games and one start. Hitters had a .230 average against him. He was able to get righties out, but struggled against left-handed hitters. Bowlan held right-handed hitters to a .182 average and .505 OPS while lefties hit .288 with a .933 OPS off him.
According to Baseball Savant, Bowlan throws five pitches, but primarily uses his four-seamer (33.4%), slider (31.2%) and sinker (17.3%). He also added a changeup and curveball to his arsenal last season.
The 6-foot-6 Bowlan averages 96.1 mph on his sinker and 95.5 mph on his four-seamer.
He held hitters to a .161 slugging percentage on his sinker, which ranks second in baseball among pitchers who threw at least 100 sinkers last season. The first? Keller, who held hitters to a .147 slugging percentage on his sinker.
Phillies acquire Kyle Backhus from Diamondbacks
Hours after trading Strahm, the Phillies made a second bullpen move Friday. Philadelphia acquired 27-year-old lefty Kyle Backhus from the Diamondbacks for minor league outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu.
Backhus struck out 22 batters in 25 1/3 innings over 32 appearances last season with the D-Backs.