Matt Strahm: From Fargo to KC (with Velocity)

Matt Strahm flirted with 80 mph in West Fargo, North Dakota. Now he throws mid-90s heat in Kansas City. The 24-year-old southpaw came a long way from undersized prep to overpowering Royals rookie.

A 21st-round pick in 2012 out of Neosho (Kansas) County Community College, Strahm jumped directly from Double-A to the KC bullpen in late July. He proceeded to set down opposing hitters with style. In 22 innings over 21 appearances, he fanned 30 and allowed just 13 hits. Only three earned runs went onto his statistical record.

Strahm started for the bulk of the past two minor-league seasons, and he will reportedly compete for a spot in the Royals rotation next spring. Wherever his future role, he has both an electric arm and a seemingly out-of-nowhere story. Strahm talked about both when Kansas City came to Boston at the end of August.

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Strahm on growing up in West Fargo: “Playing pro ball was always a dream of mine. That said, I was 6-foot, 150 pounds. I never lifted a weight. I was never on a throwing program. Baseball in North Dakota, our seasons are so short that you don’t really get to throw very much.

“I played football up until freshman year. I played basketball until sophomore year. Then it was strictly baseball. We had a high-school season and we had a Legion season. I’d say we played 50 games, maybe 60. We were traveling every weekend. We’d go to Omaha; we’d go to the [Twin Cities].

“When I went down to Neshoa, the coaches told me I had room to grow. When I got there, I hit the weight room hard. I put on something like 25 pounds my freshman year, so by the time I left, I was 185 pounds. I also grew another two inches. I had the frame, and everything has worked out for me over time.

“I went from 78 [mph] in high school to… I think I’ve been up to 97 now. A lot of hard work has gone into that. My rehab process [from Tommy John surgery, in 2013] was part of it. It took a long time, but the medical staff here with the Royals did a great job.”

On his mechanics and his arm angle: “I’ve learned how to use my lower half. When I was in college, I didn’t use my lower half. There was a lot of upper body. I was real whippy. Then I went through Tommy John. Carlos Reyes, the pitching coach down there in Arizona, with the rehab group, taught me to use my legs. Once I started working with him, my velocity jumped.

“I’ve been told I have a funky arm angle — I’m lower than three quarters — but I’m not standing in the batter’s box when I’m pitching, so I can’t say for sure what’s funky about it. I guess maybe I hide the ball well.

“I’ve always thrown the same way. I’ve never been an over-the-top guy. I played a lot of first base growing up, and just throwing the ball around the infield is probably what started the lower arm angle. I haven’t been asked to change that. [The Royals] liked my arm angle when they drafted me. I think that’s kind of what they drafted me for. They kind of cleaned up my mechanics, my delivery, but they didn’t touch my arm angle.”

On his four-seam fastball and learning from Chris Young: “I believe in my stuff, so I’m very aggressive. I’m mostly four-seam. I also throw a two-seam, but rarely. One of catchers down in Double-A, Cam Gallagher — he caught me in High-A, too — swears that my [four-seam] rises. I tell him that’s not possible from where I throw from, but he tells me it’s true. I guess it just takes off on me sometimes. I tend to miss arm side with it.

“I’ll work up. I guess my working up in the zone is probably my aggressiveness. I’m trying to attack hitters. I’m not trying to nibble on the low or outside corner. I obviously don’t want to throw middle-middle, but it’s easier when an umpire can see it up in the zone and call it a strike, versus nibbling down and way.

“CY’s fastball takes off. I’ve played catch with him, and you can see it on flat ground. I don’t care what the radar gun says about his velocity, it jumps on you. I’ve never talked to him about stuff like spin rate, or anything like that, though. I have picked his brain on his slider. I like how sharp his is.

“I’m more of a slurvy guy. Everybody else calls it a slider — it’s like 74-77 — but I call it a curveball. I’m trying to have both. I’ve been working on a slider with [pitching coach] Dave Eiland.”

On his changeup: “My changeup is in the mid-80s. I throw it with both a four-seam and a two-seam grip. From talking to my catcher down in Double-A, the spin is pretty much the same. So it comes down to me — which one feels better — and not what the hitter sees. Last night I threw two changeups, and one happened to be a two-seam changeup. The other was a four-seam changeup.

“I never threw a changeup before I got into pro ball. I was just fastball and curveball. [The Royals] wanted me to really work on it this year. I toyed around with grips — it’s a feel pitch — and the four-seam usually works best. Sometimes the two-seam works best. It’s about comfort, and I get the same action… maybe a little more action with the two-seam grip.”

On his future role: “I was a starter, then a reliever, then a starter, and now I’m a reliever. I was a starter in college, but when they drafted me I went to the pen. When I came back from Tommy John, I was in the pen. At the end of 2015, I had 10 or 11 starts. This year I started, then got moved to the bullpen.

“I don’t know what their plan is for me down the road. Whatever they tell me I’m going to do. That’s the mentality I’ve always had. Am I better suited for one or the other? I don’t know. I’ve obviously had some success with the relieving, but again, whatever they tell me to do, I’m going to do. I just want to pitch.”