Royals acquire All-Star lefty Strahm in trade with Phillies

KANSAS CITY – Following the trade that sent reliever Angel Zerpa to Milwaukee for outfielder Isaac Collins and reliever Nick Mears, the Royals turned up their search for left-handed relief help this week and landed it Friday morning, acquiring Matt Strahm in a trade with the Phillies and sending right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan back to Philadelphia.

TRADE DETAILS
Royals get: LHP Matt Strahm
Phillies get: RHP Jonathan Bowlan

Strahm, 34, has turned into one of the better lefty setup men in the league, and in the past three seasons with the Phillies, he posted a 2.71 ERA across 188 appearances. He was an All-Star in 2024 and finished that year with a 1.87 ERA, and last season, he posted a 2.74 ERA across a career-high-tying 66 appearances (62 1/3 innings) with a career-best 22 holds.

Strahm’s career actually started with the Royals, who drafted him in the 21st round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of Neosho County Community College. He made his debut with the Royals in 2016 and pitched two seasons in Kansas City before being traded to the Padres with Esteury Ruiz and Travis Wood for Brandon Maurer, Ryan Buchter and Trevor Cahill.

In his career, Strahm has held left-handed batters to a .239/.302/.376 slash line, and actually has better numbers against righties, who have slashed .212/.279/.370 against him. In 2025, lefties hit .233 with a .673 OPS against Strahm, while righties hit .196 with a .585 OPS. With the Royals, Strahm figures to be the go-to lefty in high-leverage situations, joining the back end of the bullpen that includes Lucas Erceg and closer Carlos Estévez, who are both righties.

Strahm has five pitches in his arsenal, but he mainly utilizes his 92 mph four-seamer and slider, the latter of which registered a 30% whiff rate in ‘25. Strahm has gotten more chase as his career has progressed and posted a 33.3% chase percentage last season. A consistent strike-thrower, Strahm has a 27.3% career strikeout rate and 7.0% career walk rate. Those are all things the Royals wanted to add to their bullpen this offseason, and Strahm brings the added bonus of another veteran presence, having pitched for 10 seasons and four different teams. He’s also pitched in four postseasons, including 2020 with the Padres and each of the last three seasons with Philly.

After vesting his 2026 option with the Phillies, Strahm is due to make $7.5 million next season before becoming a free agent. That salary, along with the Phillies still having a few lefties in their bullpen, likely led to their desire to trade Strahm. Now the Phillies can use that money to address other areas of their roster, while the Royals received an elite reliever for a minimal price. Strahm joins two other new faces in the Kansas City bullpen – Mears and Alex Lange, who signed a one-year deal in November – in 2026. All three will add needed chase to the unit.

Bowlan, 29, has pitched in parts of the last three seasons with the Royals, appearing in a career-high 34 games last season. The club transitioned him to a full-time reliever over the past year and saw his velocity tick up, but he bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the Majors for much of the year.