Parents are named Tim and Linda. Matt has an older sister, Britta, and a younger brother, Benjamin, who currently plays baseball at Northeastern State University...Resides in West Fargo, N.D. in the offseason, with his wife, Megan. They have two dogs, Lolly and Knox...Graduated from West Fargo High School (ND) in 2010...Attended Neosho County Community College (KS) and graduated in 2012. Posted a 9-3 record with a 1.48 ERA and 129 SO in 99.0 IP in 2 seasons, and he helped the team reach the NJCAA World Series in 2012...Bypassed an opportunity to play at Nebraska when he signed with the Royals (by scout Matt Price)...Enjoys fishing and hunting and listening to Tim McGraw. His favorite movie is The Sandlot and TV show is How I Met Your Mother. His all-time favorite baseball player is Darin Erstad...Roots for his own fantasy football team.
2019
Made his second-career Opening Day roster (also, 2017 with KC) and set career highs in many categories, including wins (6), appearances (46), starts (16), innings pitched (114.2), hits (121), runs (61), earned runs (60), HR (22), SO (118) and losses (11)...Made his 2019 debut on April 1 vs. ARI, starting the Padres 5th game of the season...gave up 5 runs (earned) on 8 hits and 3 BB with 2 SO in 2.2 IP…went on to make 15 consecutive starts from April 1-July 2 before moving to the bullpen...Tossed a career-high 8.0 innings on April 19 vs. CIN, allowing just 1 run (earned) on 2 hits with 5 SO…the 8.0 IP were the most by a Padres SP in 2019...Posted a career-best 5 consecutive starts without allowing a BB from April 7-May 2…the last SD starter to go at least 5.0 innings with 0 BB in at least 4 straight outings was Greg Maddux in 2007 when he did so in 8 straight appearances...was 1 of only 7 Padres starters to have made at least 4 straight starts of at least 5.0 innings while issuing zero BB…it had been done so on 9 occasions, with David Wells and Randy Jones accomplishing the feat twice...Pitched 6 quality starts through his first 15 outings of the season, which finished the season ranked 4th among Padres pitchers...from April 19-May 8, he became the 2nd SD starter to toss 4 straight quality outings in 2019 (also: Chris Paddack from April 18-May 6)…went 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA (12 ER, 38.1 IP) in quality starts...Allowed 2 ER-or-fewer across 8 straight starts from April 7- May 21, which tied with 5 others for the 3rd-longest streak in the majors (min. 5.0 IP), over the 8-start stretch in this time, his 0.95 BB/9 rate ranked 3rd among ML pitchers...Struck out a career-high 10 on May 27 at NYY…was 1 of 4 SD pitchers to strike out 10-or-more batters in a game this season. (Dinelson Lamet did so 4 times)...Missed time while on the 10-Day Injured List with a left rib strain from June 5-12...His 22 HR allowed were the 3rd-most among the Padres pitching staff, behind Joey Lucchesi and Chris Paddack who each allowed 23 HR…gave up 19 HR as a starter but only gave up 3 HR as a reliever...gave up multiple HR in 7 consecutive starts from May 21-July 2, the longest streak by a ML pitcher in 2019…since 2007, Strahm is just 1 of 2 pitchers to allow multiple HR in 7 consecutive starts, joining Jason Jennings who did so from 2007-08...After starting the season with a 2-4 record with a 3.21 ERA (20 ER, 56.0 IP) through 10 starts, he went on to post a 1-3 record with a 10.65 ERA (28 ER, 23.2 IP) over his next 5 starts and was moved to the bullpen...Made his 1st relief appearance of the season on July 12 vs. ATL, giving up 1 ER on 2 hits in 1.0 IP…it was his first relief outing since Sept. 29, 2018 vs. ARI...went on to make 30 relief appearances in 2019, posting a 3-4 record with a 3.27 ERA (12 ER, 33.0 IP)…pitched to a 5.29 ERA (48 ER, 81.2 IP) in 16 starts...Over 14 games (1 start) from August 12-Sept. 13, he gave up just 1 ER in 15.0 IP (0.60 ERA) while limiting hitters to a .063 (1-for-16) clip with RISP...in 12 August appearances (1 start), he went 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA (3 ER, 14.0 IP) with 15 SO...Held opponents scoreless in 23 of his 30 relief outings and tossed more than 1.0 IP in 6 games...Recorded a 27.6% SO rate as a reliever as opposed to a 22.9% SO as a starter...His 6 wins finished T-5th among Padres pitchers with Cal Quantrill while his 11 losses were the most among the pitching staff and finished T-10th among NL pitchers.
2018
Posted career highs in appearances (41), IP (61.1), starts (five), wins (three), SO (69) and WHIP (0.98)...Opponents were 3-for-41 (.073 AVG) against him with RISP, the lowest mark in the majors (min. 45 batters faced)...Limited the opposition to a .053 average with RISP/2 out, tied for the second-lowest average in such scenarios (min. 20 batters faced)...Among all NL pitchers who made at least 40 appearances, his 5.72 H/9 IP and opponent average (.178) both ranked sixth and his 0.98 WHIP ranked tied for seventh...Began the season on the 10-day DL while recovering from surgery on his torn left patellar tendon...Made nine rehab appearances (two starts) with San Antonio (AA) and went 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA (4 ER, 14.1 IP) before being reinstated from the DL on 5/7...Made his SD debut on 5/7 vs. WSH and allowed a season-high three earned runs on two hits and a career-hightying three walks in 2.0 IP...Allowed just six earned runs for the remainder of the first half, posting a 2.34 ERA (9 ER, 34.2 IP) and a .171 opponent clip in 19 pre-All Star break games...Made a total of five starts, including four in a row from 6/6-23…posted a 1.35 ERA (2 ER, 13.1 IP) with a .149 opponent average and 12.15 SO/9 IP as a starter...Posted a 1.69 ERA (5 ER, 26.2 IP) and a .188 opponent average in 22 post All-Star break games...Went 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA (1 ER, 11.0 IP) with 13.09 SO/9 IP in his 10 August outings..Posted a 1.67 ERA (6 ER, 32.1 IP) on the road compared to a 2.48 mark (8 ER, 29.0 IP) at home...Pitched to a 0.81 ERA (2 ER, 22.2 IP) in day games compared to a 2.77 ERA (12 ER, 39.0 IP) in night games...Was scoreless in his four interleague appearances and 5.1 IP... Limited the opposition to a .197 average and posted a 1.86 mark (4 ER, 19.1 IP) in one-run games...Righties hit .149 (23-for-154) against him while lefties hit .246 (16-for-65)...Relied on four pitches: four-seamer (58%), slider (15.3%), changeup (14.3%) and curve (12.3%).
2017
Split the season between Omaha (AAA) and KC before undergoing surgery on his torn left patellar tendon and acquired by SD on 7/24... Made the his first career Opening Day roster for KC and made three relief appearances before being optioned to Omaha on 4/11, where he allowed just two hits and no runs in 5.0 IP in four relief appearances... Recalled by KC on 4/21 and tossed scoreless outings in 13 of his next 16 outings from 4/21-6/5, going 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA (3ER, 18.2 IP)... Earned the win in his first career start on 6/14 at LAA, working 5.0 IP of three-hit ball allowing one unearned run in KC's 7-2 victory... Tagged with the loss in his next two starts, allowing five earned runs on both 6/20 vs. BOS and 6/27 at DET... Sustained a torn patellar tendon in his left knee on 7/1 vs. MIN...underwent surgery on 7/7... Acquired by SD along with LHP Travis Wood and INF Esteury Ruiz from KC in exchange for LHP Ryan Buchter and RHPs Trevor Cahill and Brandon Maurer on 7/24.
2016
Made his Major League debut on July 31 at Texas and made 21 relief appearances during his rookie campaign…recalled from Northwest Arkansas (AA)...Had the longest scoreless streak by a Royals' hurler in 2016, going 16.1 consecutive frames without a run from Aug. 2 to Sept. 10…it was the longest streak by a Royals rookie since Yordano Ventura (18.0) in 2014...During his scoreless streak, which spanned 12 appearances, held opponents to a .120 average (6-for- 50) and allowed four walks compared to 20 strikeouts...Held opponents to a .173 batting average (13-for-75), seventh lowest among AL relievers that faced at least 80 hitters…among Royals rookies that faced at least 80 hitters. only Joel Johnston (.120 in 1991) had a lower opponents' average...Recorded at least one strikeout in each of his first 10 outings...Fanned five in a 2.0-inning appearance vs. the White Sox on Aug. 9…it marked the most strikeouts by a Royals rookie in an outing of 2.0 innings or less, and the most by any Royal since Luke Hochevar in 2013...His 12.27 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (30 SO in 22.0 IP) ranked 10th in the AL (min. 20.0 IP), and fourth in Royals history...Allowed just one earned run in eight home appearances (0.96 ERA), holding opponents to a .133 average (4- for-30) with no extra-base hits...Earned his first Major League win on Aug. 17 at Detroit, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning and recording a scoreless eighth in front of a four-run Royals rally…induced a double play off the bat of Miguel Cabrera to get out of the bases loaded threat in the seventh...Entered the season rated as the Royals' No. 8 prospect by Baseball America
2015
Matt was named an All-Star for the first time in his career, being selected to the South Atlantic League (A) game... however, he did not participate due to his promotion to Wilmington (A-Advanced) on June 13…Combined to post a 3-7 record with a 2.59 ERA in 29 appearances (11 starts) between his two stops...posted a career-high 121 strikeouts in 94.0 innings...his 10.99 Ks per 9.0 IP in the Carolina League (83 in 68.0 IP) would have ranked third in the league if he had enough innings to qualify, while his 0.99 WHIP would have ranked 11th…Fanned nine in three different appearances during the season, including striking out nine of the 10 hitters he faced on May 27 vs. Kannapolis in a 3.0-inning relief appearance...he also allowed one walk in the game…Dropped six-straight decisions, despite posting a 3.05 ERA (19 ER in 56.0 IP) after July 1.
