The Kansas City Royals took some major steps to address a critical bullpen need on Friday after acquiring veteran left-hander Matt Strahm from the Philadelphia Phillies.
A Strahm reunion certainly scratches the Royals’ itch for “a left-on-left arm that could fit in the back of their bullpen”, like MLB,com’s Anne Rogers reported during the Winter Meetings, but their need for lefties could arguably stretch beyond just Strahm.
Before they made the trade with Philadelphia, their southpaw situation looked bleak with Daniel Lynch IV and a struggling Bailey Falter being the only two “surefire” options.
Having multiple left-on-left specialists for different portions of a ball game is never a bad option and could potentially free up Strahm for some more traditional late-inning relief work – given he has experience closing ball games himself.
So, if Kansas City wants to up the ante and grab another left-handed relief pitcher, who are some gettable free agents they could go out and sign?
3 additional lefties Royals could look to add to bullpen after Matt Strahm trade
Andrew Chafin
Since the COVID 2020 season, Chafin has been the definition of a journeyman, appearing for eight different clubs in that six year span. And there’s a reason for this, he continually finds easy to be a valuable left-handed arm in the ‘pen that’s desirable across much of the league.
The 2025 season was no different for the 35-year-old, as in 33.2 innings across 43 outings between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels, he threw to a 2.41 ERA with respectable marks in FIP (3.46), K/9 (9.62) and BAA (.234).
And against left-handed hitters in particular, he certainly fits the lefty-on-lefty mold, posting a .136/.268/.186 slash line with a 0.98 WHIP versus them in 19.1 innings.
Danny Coulombe
Then there’s Coulombe, who’s coming off his fourth consecutive season with an ERA under 3.00 and FIP below 4.00.
In 43.0 innings of work across 55 outings between the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers, he threw to a 2.30 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.16 WHIP and .203 BAA.
And again, looking at the Royals desired lefty-on-lefty parameters, Coulombe more than fits the bill. In 20.0 innings versus them in 2025, the 36-year-old put up a .225/.273/.254 slash line and 1.05 WHIP.
Sean Newcomb
Lastly there’s Newcomb, who’s a converted starter himself. While he can certainly handle a left-on-left middle relief role, his versatility could be an option the Royals turn to, potentially as an insurance plan for Falter, after he posted a 13.50 ERA in his 4.0 innings as a reliver last season.
Newcomb is coming off a good-looking 1.7 fWAR campaign between the Red Sox and the Athletics in 2025 after posting a 2.73 ERA and 3.04 FIP.
Again, he may not be the same degree of lefty specialist as say a Chafin and Coulombe, he still held his own with some favorable looking splits. In 28.1 innings against them in 2025, he posted a slash line against of .226/.308/.321 with a respectable 1.24 WHIP.
He may not be the go-to middle relief option for them, but given their need to narrow down their starting surplus, having another relief arm capable of stretching out innings in a bullpen day or even making a spot start, if injuries arrive like they did last year, could be invaluable.
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