The Phillies raised a few eyebrows during the offseason when they shipped lefty reliever Matt Strahm to the Royals for right-hander Jonathan Bowlan.
Strahm, a National League All-Star in 2024, had a 2.71 ERA in three seasons as a key member of Philadelphia’s bullpen. Bowlan, meanwhile, possessed just one full year of MLB experience and had a 4.32 career ERA at the time of the deal.
While it’s still too early to evaluate the trade in its entirety, early returns sure look promising for the Phillies.
Bowlan has been all Philadelphia could have expected, owning a 2.94 ERA in 36 relief appearances. In 33 2/3 innings, he has struck out 39 while issuing only eight walks.
With Brad Keller out for the season with a torn right UCL, Bowlan joins righty Orion Kerkering as a premier setup option in front of closer Jhoan Duran, a key development for a Phillies team whose bullpen has faltered at times in prior postseasons. Philadelphia might still look to upgrade its ’pen ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, but Bowlan’s emergence gives the club one fewer spot to worry about.
Strahm, meanwhile, has struggled to a 6.88 ERA with Kansas City, including an 11.05 ERA in July. Although his Statcast-projected 3.83 expected ERA points at some positive regression, the Phillies have gotten considerably better production from Bowlan to this point.
Advanced metrics back it up, too: Entering Thursday, Bowlan ranked in the 72nd percentile or higher in all 12 main Statcast pitching categories and in the upper echelons of MLB in several key statistics.
Bowlan’s key Statcast ranks, 2026
xERA: 2.53 (97th percentile)
xBA: .195 (93rd percentile)
Average exit velocity: 84.9 mph (97th percentile)
Whiff rate: 32.7% (92nd percentile)
Hard-hit rate: 29.1% (97th percentile)
The righty has improved on a solid rookie season with Kansas City, in which he had a 3.86 ERA (3.79 xERA) and struck out 46 in 44 1/3 innings. With the Phillies, Bowlan has added to his arsenal, incorporating a sweeper into his six-pitch mix.
He has also shown a major uptick in velocity (1.8 mph) on his four-seam fastball, his best offering. Throwing the pitch 43.5% of the time -- up from 33.6% last season -- Bowlan has allowed just seven hits in 45 at-bats (.156 average) ending on his four-seamer.
Bowlan generates above-average vertical and horizontal movement on his fastball, which has helped him earn whiffs on 39.8% of swings against the pitch -- the fourth-highest whiff rate on four-seamers among pitchers to throw at least 200 this season. That has helped lead to a 53.2% strikeout rate on four-seamers, which leads the Major Leagues.
When hitters are making contact on Bowlan’s fastball, they’re not usually squaring it up. Hitters swing underneath Bowlan’s four-seamer 64% of the time -- tied for the second-highest rate of any qualifying pitch type. On average, they’re underneath the ball by 3.2 inches, which helps Bowlan avoid hard-hit contact.
Beyond his fastball, Bowlan has found ways to get outs with a variety of offerings. His slider has been his best secondary pitch, keeping hitters to a 4-for-26 line (.154 average) with seven strikeouts. It has a 40.0% whiff rate, just ahead of his four-seamer for his best whiff rate on any pitch.
Bowlan’s repertoire also includes a changeup, which he throws predominantly to left-handed hitters, as well as a sinker and sweeper that are almost exclusively thrown to righties. Excluding his curveball, which he has thrown just nine times all season, he has allowed a slugging percentage of .346 or lower on all five of his pitches, a sign of his overall effectiveness.
He has become a go-to reliever for the Phillies over the course of 2026, appearing in the seventh inning or later in each of his past eight appearances and picking up three of his five holds this season in that span. The 29-year-old -- under contract through 2031 and not even arbitration eligible until 2029 -- figures to be a big part of the Phillies’ bullpen for years to come.