How the Phillies thought this bullpen was going to be serviceable heading into a season in which they were talking about seriously competing is beyond me BUT at least they are starting to correct a wrong, and being aggressive in doing it.
Yes, help is on the way to the Phillies bullpen, which is the worst in the sport, and it comes from two trades with bitter rivals.
First, the Phillies traded Addison Russ to the Yankees for David Hale. Then, they traded Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold to the Red Sox for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.
Here are my 5 thoughts on the trades yesterday
Both trades were awful value
Matt Klentak is in a tough position heading into this deadline and it’s already rearing its ugly head with his first two trades yesterday. Klentak has to fight through two things in this trade deadline, the luxury tax that his owner won’t let him go over and this teams blatant hole in the bullpen that teams know the Phillies need to fill.
In the David Hale trade, Klentak was forced to give up a legit bullpen prospect for a guy that was just designated for assignment. That should never happen, but teams know the Phillies are desperate for bullpen help and are holding Klentak’s feet to the fire.
The Workman and Hembree deal was just a masterclass of getting terrible value. Now, don’t get me wrong, Workman and Hembree are both good quality major league pitchers, and in Workman’s case, a back-end of the bullpen option, but he’s a free agent at the end of the year. Hembree is definitely good but nothing overwhelming.
The Phillies had to give up Pivetta, who is a talented enigma, AND Seabold who looks like he could be a major league quality starter down the road. They had to give up this kind of package because of one thing-- the luxury tax.
The luxury tax looms large
Shoutout to John Middleton, who says he wants to get his trophy back or die trying, for hamstringing this team in the offseason and leaving them in the position where the lame-duck GM now is giving away legit talent just to save a little bit of his money.
I really wonder if Middleton understands how easy it should be for this team to get under the tax next season even if they start the clock and go over this season. Arrieta, Didi and Robertson are all coming off the books, which frees up about $45+ million. Hopefully they re-sign J.T Realmuto, but still, it shouldn’t be hard to get under this offseason.
The trade with the Red Sox boils down to this. The Phillies had to give up a better package than they needed to so that the Red Sox would throw some cash in the deal to help the Phillies stay under the luxury tax.
In turn, the Phillies got two good, not great, relievers and one that will walk this offseason, which could be 38 games away.
But at least they stayed under the luxury tax! So proud of my team for doing that!
They have competent major league bullpen pieces now
I feel like when we watch Workman, Hembree and, to an extent, David Hale, for the first time it’s going to be like being stuck in the middle of the desert and you see water for the first time.
Even though I don’t believe the values were great for either trade, the Phillies did get Major League caliber bullpen arms yesterday that will give them a chance to compete down the stretch run here.
Workman is the big name here. While he won’t wow you with the strikeouts you usually like to see from the back-end of the bullpen, Workman will come in, usually throw strikes, and not feel the pressure of being thrust into late game situations. He was pitching in World Series and playoff games for the Red Sox. He’ll be fine here.
In case you’re not familiar with his work, here’s a thread of Workman sliders for you.
Hembree is another guy that won’t wow you with stuff, but he’s been a consistent piece in that Red Sox bullpen since 2015 and, much like Workman, has pitched in World Series and postseason games before. Hembree was actually off to his best start yet, in 2020, before the Phillies roughed him up the other day. Before that outing, he had a 1.86 ERA on the season and was holding opponents to a .152 AVG. He will be here next season as well, which is nice.
Here’s Hembree striking out a former Phillie.
Hale is just a quality bullpen piece, nothing overwhelming. Should be able to take down multiple innings if need be and not add to the lead or reduce the lead. Not really a high-leverage guy, like they’ll be asking out of Workman and Hembree, but a guy that won’t kill you out there on most nights.
On most nights, Girardi will be able to go to Neris, Alvarez, Workman, Hembree and Adam Morgan. It’s not great, but it still gives them a chance on most nights. This bullpen wasn’t giving them that chance so far this season.
Phillies attempting to follow the Nationals model?
I’m not saying that the Phillies are what that Nationals team was last year but their approaches here are similar.
Last year before the trade deadline, the Nationals bullpen was this Phillies bullpen-- the worst in the sport. They had an elite starting staff, which the Phillies do not, and a very good lineup, which the Phillies do have, but just weren’t able to compete because the bullpen was so bad. At the deadline, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo went out and traded for Daniel Hudson, Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland.
Daniel Hudson ended up closing out the World Series for the Nationals.
Will this season end up in the Phillies winning the World Series? No, but it sure seems like they followed the Nationals plan from last season. Go into the season with the worst bullpen in the sport and then add it to it at the deadline and go.
Now, let’s see if this team goes.
This will give a jolt in that clubhouse
The most underrated part of these trades is that it should give that clubhouse a jolt of energy. When you have a bad bullpen everyone in the clubhouse can feel it and it can wear on you. The offense feels like it has to score 7 runs a game, the starters feel like they have to go 7 just to give this team a chance. Now with some competent weapons back there, it should let everyone take a deep breath.
I bet you that inside that clubhouse, the Phillies players now feel like they have a shot, and that belief could get this team on a run to finish out this season.