Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree Traded to Phillies from Red Sox

Blake SchusterAnalyst IIAugust 22, 2020

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Heath Hembree (37) winds up in a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired relief pitchers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from the Boston Red Sox for Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold on Friday night.

Philadelphia Phillies @Phillies
Phillies have acquired RHPs Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree and cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RHPs Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold. https://t.co/onrxWB1zFN

The Phillies announced they also received cash considerations in the deal.

Mark Feinsand @Feinsand
The Red Sox are sending the Phillies a little more than $800,000 in the Workman/Hembree trade, per sources. That essentially means the Phillies will pay the two relievers the minimum for the remainder of the season.

Philadelphia got a potential upgrade in the bullpen with Hembree, 31, who owns a 5.59 ERA and 1.24 WHIP with 10 strikeouts and three walks in 9.2 innings. Workman has a 4.05 ERA with a 1.80 WHIP to go with eight strikeouts and four walks in 6.2 innings.

The Phillies (9-12) entered Friday's game against the Atlanta Braves three games back in the National League East and two games back of the wild card.

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan
The Phillies getting Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from Boston is a clear win-now move. They need bullpen help bad, and this offers it. Nick Pivetta long has been an analytics favorite, and Boston is buying low in hopes he can turn into the SP the Red Sox desperately need.

With the combined star power of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Phil Gosselin, a run to the postseason isn't out of the question, but the team needed to address its last-ranked bullpen (8.07 ERA) ahead of the Aug. 31 trade deadline.

It makes sense they'd look to the Red Sox for a trade partner.

Boston is just 8-18 on the year and nine games out of first place in the American League East. The team also has the third-worst run differential in MLB this season (-43) behind the Pittsburgh Pirates (-44) and Seattle Mariners (-53).

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As the club looks toward the future, adding a reliever like 27-year-old Pivetta, who has shown flashes of brilliance in the past but owns a 15.88 ERA in 5.2 innings this year, was a worthwhile gamble. And Seabold posted a 2.24 ERA in 56.1 innings across three minor league levels last year.