New Reliever Looking Forward to Phillies Future 'More Than Words Can Describe'

CLEARWATER, Fla. — If you missed Jonathan Bowlan on Thursday, it might've been because you walked into another room, read a text message or blinked.

The new Phillies reliever made his 2026 spring training debut against the Nationals and needed just seven pitches (six strikes) to complete a 1-2-3 fifth inning. He recorded three outs on three different pitches — sinker, slider and four-seam fastball. Bowlan also has a curveball, sweeper and changeup but didn't need any of them against Washington.

"All of his stuff was great," Garrett Stubbs said after catching him for the first time. "If I set up on a certain side of the plate, he didn't miss, which is what you need."

The fit

The Phillies acquired Bowlan in the mid-December trade that sent Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals. They're excited about the 29-year-old, who last season ranked second among all major-league rookies with a .182 opponents' batting average.

And Bowlan? He sure seems happy to be a Phillie.

"I'm looking forward to it more than words can describe because I just love to compete and I want to be the best at whatever it is, and I feel like we have a chance to be one of the teams fighting for a championship," he said about an hour after exiting Thursday's game.

"I'm beyond excited, especially with this team, this culture, all the great players on this team. All these guys have had the experience, been in the playoffs. I feel like it's a good fit here."

So do the Phillies, who anticipate using Bowlan for more than an inning at times. He made 34 appearances last season with the Royals and recorded four or more outs in 16 of them. He went two-plus innings seven times.

Asked about that Thursday, he laughed and admitted he wasn't even aware it was that many.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win," he said.

The bullpen hierarchy

Bowlan is one of six locks in the Phillies' eight-man bullpen. There's closer Jhoan Duran, setup men Brad Keller and Jose Alvarado, Orion Kerkering and Tanner Banks in front of them, as well as Bowlan. He is probably fourth in their right-handed relief hierachy, but there will be nights when one or more of Kerkering, Keller and Duran are unavailable and Bowlan will shift into a higher-leverage situation.

Bowlan partially attributes last season's success to the improvement of his slider. He threw it nearly as much (31%) as he threw his 95-96 mph four-seam fastball (33%).

"This year, just trying to carry it over," he said, "keep the confidence in it. Just kind've compete with what you've got."

Available at any time

Last season with the Royals, Bowlan entered games in each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. There were a dozen instances of him keeping the opposition scoreless in the seventh inning or later of a close game.

Bowlan's a pretty versatile bullpen piece to have and one of the reasons why the Phillies think this can be their best group of relievers dating back to 2022, when the window of contention opened. He's also under team control through 2031.

Rob Thomson's assessment of his first look at the 6-foot-6, 240-pound mountain of a right-hander?

"Tremendous," the Phillies' manager said. "Riding fastball, good command. The slider was outstanding."