Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
Jonathan Bowlan woke up to his alarm on a chilly mid-December morning and got ready to hit the workout facility at Vanderbilt University, where he was training in the offseason.
His phone started to go off again.
It was not a second alarm.
Instead, it was a call from the Kansas City Royals’ general manager and president of baseball operations, J.J. Picollo.
“It was 8:30 in the morning,” Bowlan recalled.
“He said, 'Hey Jon, we traded you. "I was like, dang. It caught me off guard because I just woke up.”
On December 19th, Bowlan was traded for reliever Matt Strahm in a one-for-one swap as both teams were looking to bolster their bullpens.
The whirlwind of emotions ensued for the former second-round pick in 2018 out of Memphis, trying to grapple with the fact that the team he spent his first eight seasons as a pro traded him.
“It was mixed feelings in a way. I was with the Royals for so long, but coming to the Phillies with this culture and organization, this team, it’s special,” Bowlan said.
“I’m super happy and excited to be here and be part of this great team.”
Heading to Philadelphia has been quite the change for Bowlan. He was born in Arlington, Tennessee, with a population just under 16,000, and grew up just 20 minutes northeast of Memphis in Bartlett.
The right-hander was not very familiar with the Philadelphia area or the organization.
Bowlan’s only familiar connection with his new team was Brad Keller, who also started his career with the Royals.
The reliever actually signed a two-year, $22 million deal with the Phillies the day before Bowlan was officially traded.
“He was the only guy I knew before coming in. I spoke to him a lot leading up to it,” Bowlan said.
Bowlan also leaned on former Phillies Weston Wilson and Ben Bowden, who were also working out at Vanderbilt at the time of the trade, asking the two what it was like to play for the organization.
If you look up his journey, you’ll notice one geographical fact.
The bulk of Bowlan's playing career has been spent in the South or the Midwest. The former top pitching prospect for the Royals spent just one season in his career on the East Coast in 2019.
That year, he spent the second half of the season in the starting rotation, helping the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the then-High-A affiliate for the Royals in Wilmington, Delaware, to a Carolina League title.
He also threw a no-hitter with the Blue Rocks, the first for the franchise in 19 years, falling an error shy of tossing a perfect game, something his father Mark accomplished during his playing days.
Mark, who also pitched at Memphis and threw the program’s first and only perfect game against Louisville in 1987 and is just one of 21 nine-inning perfect games in Division I since 1957.
Bowlan followed his father’s footsteps, pitching collegiately at Memphis, continuing the family tradition of competing and rooting for the Tigers.
Now, his dad and family follow Jonathan to Philadelphia to watch their son pitch at the highest level.
They were in attendance this past weekend to watch the 6-foot-6 righty pitch in two of the team’s wins against the Chicago White Sox, earning the win in the series-opening victory.
The 29-year-old has been pitching well as of late for interim manager Don Mattingly as he settles into a lane.
Bowlan has pitched in the seventh inning or later in nine of his last 11 appearances, including finishing the final two innings in Sunday’s 9-5 series-clinching win.
“It was really good,” Mattingly said of Bowlan getting the final six outs, helping avoid the need for closer Jhoan Duran, although he did get warm.
The towering hurler has been really good for the Phillies since giving up a combined five earned runs in back-to-back relief appearances on April 30 and May 1.
Since then, he has allowed just one earned run over his last 10 appearances, posting a 0.77 ERA with 12 strikeouts and just one walk across 11 ⅔ innings.
He’s done so with his four-seam fastball, which has been one of the best pitches in baseball.
Of 312 MLB pitchers who have thrown at least 100 four-seam fastballs this season, he has the fourth-highest Whiff% at 39.1% and the seventh-highest K% (41%).
A pitch that has helped the Phillies win games in the middle to later innings.
“We are expected to win from everybody,” Bowlan said.
“The culture is unbelievable, and that’s a culture you want to be a part of. You want to do everything you can do to help win and reach the overall goal of winning a World Series. We’ve been so close many times; now it’s just about going out and doing my job to help this team reach that goal.”
The bullpen has been one of the strengths this season, posting a 3.72 ERA overall.
However, over the last month, the group has been even better, yielding a 3.03 mark, good for second-lowest in MLB.
With the least amount of experience being a reliever, making the full transition midway through 2024, Bowlan has been focused on continuing to learn from his teammates.
“You want to ask those guys questions. They’ve been around it for so long. You want to learn and see if you can help your game in some way by asking questions and learning,” Bowlan said.
“We have built a good relationship so far this season. It’s special,” Bowlan added about the dynamic between his fellow bullpen mates.
Perhaps he could win another championship in his career while pitching on the unfamiliar East Coast.
For now, Bowlan just wants to keep bowling through opposing lineups when his name is called.
“The fans have been great here in Philadelphia. They are rooting for us, and they are keeping us accountable when we are good or bad. As a player, you like that. We are trying to do everything we can to bring a title to this city.”
