Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree Traded to Phillies from Red Sox

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. 

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

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.

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). 

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.