The Philadelphia Phillies made two separate trades on Friday. First they traded All-Star left-hander Matt Strahm of West Fargo, North Dakota to the Kansas City Royals for right-handed relief pitcher Jonathan Bowlan of Arlington, Texas. Then the Phillies traded outfield prospect Avery Owusu-Asiedu to the Arizona Diamondbacks for lefthanded pitcher Kyle Backhus of New Waverly, Texas.
Strahm, who was an All-Star with the Phillies in 2024, originally pitched for the Royals in 2016 and 2017. He also pitched four seasons with the San Diego Padres from 2018 to 2021, the Boston Red Sox in 2022, and the last three seasons with the Phillies.
In 2025, Strahm pitched in 66 games and had a record of two wins and three losses with an earned run average of 2.74. He had six saves, 22 holds, and 70 strikeouts, and gave up 47 hits, 22 earned runs, five home runs, and 11 walks, to go along with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.08. Strahm beat the Miami Marlins 11-10 on April 19 and the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on August 30.
Bowlan pitched the last three seasons with the Royals. In 2025, he pitched 35 games, and had a record of one win and two losses with an earned run average of 3.86. In 44 1/3 innings pitched, Bowlan gave up 37 hits, 19 earned runs, six home runs, and 17 walks, to go along with 46 strikeouts, two holds and a WHIP of 1.22. Bowlan beat the San Francisco Giants 8-4 on May 21. His first hold came on August 24 in a 10-8 Royals win over the Detroit Tigers, and his second hold came on September 27 in a 4-2 Royals win over the Athletics.
Backhus had a record of zero wins and three losses with an earned run average of 4.62. In 32 games, he had two saves, 10 holds, and 22 strikeouts, gave up 28 hits, 13 earned runs, three home runs, and eight walks, to go along with a WHIP of 1.42. Backhus’s first save came in a 6-2 Diamondbacks win over the San Diego Padres on August 4, and the second save came in a 6-4 Diamondbacks win over the Minnesota Twins on September 14. Backhus was very effective against left-handers as he had an opponent batting average of .139 against lefthanded batters according to Rogers Sportsnet.
