The Philadelphia Phillies took a risk over the offseason by swapping Matt Strahm for Jonathan Bowlan. Trading away a battle-tested, productive lefty reliever for a 29-year-old who had thrown a total of 49 career innings over three seasons just for some marginal payroll savings seemed like overkill.
Things started to make more sense once it came to light that the relationship between Strahm and the team had fractured. Then, it looked even better when Bowlan stepped up into high-leverage situations.
Meanwhile, Strahm has been absolutely putrid this year. The veteran southpaw posted a 7.23 ERA over 35 2/3 innings and was DFA'd by Kansas City following the trade deadline. His strikeouts plummeted from 10.11 K/9 last season to 7.57 this season, while he posted a ghastly 3.03 HR/9 and saw his velocity decline yet again, dropping from 93.6 miles per hour in 2024 to 92.2 miles per hour in 2025 to 91.3 miles per hour in 2026.
The reason has become clear. Strahm has dealt with a sore knee all year, and now it has been reported by FanSided's Robert Murray that he has undergone knee surgery and won't be ready to return to action until 2027.
Matt Strahm's surgery solidifies the Phillies' win in trading him for Jonathan Bowlan
The larger takeaway from Strahm's disappointing campaign is that while the rise for relievers can be fast, their decline can be even faster. The non-elite guys are so volatile year after year, and the fact that Philadelphia got three quality seasons out of the lefty is a win on its own.
Speaking of relievers on the rise, Bowlan really seems like he's on the upswing. After a disappointing start to the season when he posted a 5.63 ERA over the season's first month, he started looking better in May with a 3.86 mark.
June was when he really hit his stride, though, and over the three-month span from June 1 through August 31, Bowlan posted a 1.95 ERA over 32 1/3 innings. That's not just under-the-radar good kind of numbers; that's elite-level performance.
Now, September hasn't gone that well for the right-hander. Bowlan has given up an earned run in each of his last five outings, and has been bitten by the homer bug (including a ghastly moment on Tuesday night that made us briefly question running this article). Still, he entered Tuesday with a 3.59 xFIP over that stretch, which is a decent indicator that he'll turn things around. It should also be noted that it would be wise for us not to overreact to a small sample. In the grand scheme of things, Bowlan has still been essential, while ... if Strahm were still here, he'd be unavailable for the playoffs.
Instead, the Phillies might have uncovered a diamond in the rough for the pen that is under team control through 2031. That's not too shabby for rolling the dice while dumping the salary of a malcontent.
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