Philadelphia Phillies: Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree have been disastrous
At the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies added pitchers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, and neither one has worked out.
Ten days prior to the trading deadline the Philadelphia Phillies pulled the trigger on a trade to bolster their bullpen. They brought in closer Brandon Workman and reliever Heath Hembree as ways to solidify their shaky bullpen heading into the stretch run. As some trader tend to do, this one didn’t work out in the Phillies best interests.
Brought in to protect a one-run lead in extra innings against the Washington Nationals yesterday, Workman promptly gave up a two-run, walk-off, home run to rookie Yadiel Hernandez. The loss marked the third blown save he has had since coming over and he now carries a 1-4 record with an ERA over 6.00 since joining the Phillies.
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He has now allowed runs in four of the last five games he has pitched in, and the Phillies as a team have lost four straight to fall out of the lead in the wild card standings.
In eleven games with the Phillies, Hembree has given up seven home runs and has an ERA of 12.54. There have only been three games Hembree has appeared in with the Phillies where he has not allowed a run. He is currently on the injured list with an elbow strain.
Both Workman and Hembree are friendly to the pocketbook. They are making a prorated version of the $4.66M salaries they are earning together. Hembree will be under team control for another season after entering his last year of arbitration this offseason. Workman is a free agent, and even though he has not been a costly rental player, he has not been a productive rental player either.
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The Philadelphia Phillies have four games remaining on the schedule to try and climb their way back into the playoff picture. If they are left on the outside looking in, they will be able to place blame on these two deadline acquisitions as reasons why.