PAWTUCKET — Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold will be the latest Red Sox pitchers headed to the alternate site.

Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata and Jay Groome are already among those working at McCoy Stadium. Boston is continuing a pivot to the future that started prior to spring training when it traded Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers.

The Red Sox are 9-18 despite a three-game winning streak heading into Saturday night’s game at Baltimore. Their 5.97 earned-run average is nearly the worst in baseball, and they can thank the Tigers for saving them from that dubious distinction by posting a wretched 5.99. Boston’s struggles are just about equally distributed between their starters and relievers — ERAs of 6.26 and 5.75, respectively.

That makes Paul Abbott one of the most important members of the Red Sox organization at the moment. Pawtucket’s pitching coach is among those working with what Boston hopes will be an infusion of quality arms for its staff. Pivetta and Seabold were the return from the Phillies in the Friday night trade that sent away relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.

“A lot of new guys in the organization,” Abbott said Friday afternoon. “You kind of build some trust first getting to see them and see what they need to do. You take what we know of them when they get in here and some approaches that can make them valuable and give us some help in Boston.”

Pivetta projected as a long-term rotation piece when he debuted with Philadelphia in 2017. The 27-year-old right-hander would seem to be straight from central casting at 6 feet 5 inches and 215 pounds. But his 5.50 ERA with the Phillies has included several stops and starts, including 21 of his 92 appearances coming out of the bullpen.

“This is a guy we have a lot of faith in as a starting pitcher,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “Just right now, knowing he’s been through some ups and down — role changes, a lot of different things over there — we thought the right thing to do was to get him to our alternate site, get our arms around him a little bit, get to know him.”

Philadelphia moved the 24-year-old Seabold quickly during his first professional season in 2018, as the right-hander reached Double-A just a year after being drafted in the third round out of Cal State Fullerton. An oblique strain limited Seabold to 56 innings across four levels in 2019, but his 2.24 ERA and 58 strikeouts against just 11 walks suggest some potential.

“If we have a chance to acquire premium talent that’s not as close, we should be willing to do that,” Bloom said. “There are going to be dividends paid down the road.”

Houck reached Triple-A for the first time last year and is the closest to Boston among the club’s homegrown pitching prospects. The 24-year-old right-hander remains in search of a way to more consistently retire left-handed hitters — an inability to find a solution could ultimately push Houck to the bullpen. His changeup has been replaced by a split-fingered fastball and Abbott hopes that pitch will better complement the rest of Houck’s arsenal.

“Seems like the split kind of matched the slight adjustments that we’re making to get the carry on his fastball to the glove side,” Abbott said. “If we dedicate to it and stick in with that, I think we’ll see some big gains with that.”

Mata struck out more than a batter per inning across two levels in 2019. The 21-year-old right-hander oozes potential but remains in need of more refinement. His 42 walks in 105 innings at Class-A Salem and with the Sea Dogs helped contribute to a 1.28 WHIP.

“He’s got the best stuff we have in our organization overall,” Abbott said. “Power arm. Power everything. He’s just young and he’s raw.

“His mechanics need to be tightened up a little bit. His misses are too big with his fastball. But this has been a huge thing for him as well. He needed to keep throwing.”

Groome has worked just 66 professional innings since being drafted in the first round out of a New Jersey high school in 2016. Only eight of those have come in the last three years, as Groome underwent Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2018. Facing live hitters in any setting at this point would seem to be paramount for the left-hander.

“We asked him to intensify his bullpens and side sessions, and he did,” Abbott said. “We introduced some slight adjustments to his mechanics, got his legs more involved, got better extension on his fastball. He’s got more confidence in his breaking ball. Since the surgery, it’s the best he’s felt trusting the effort with it.

“He’s got this bounce in his step and he comes to work every day. I told him today, ‘I’m extremely impressed with the way you’re going about your business. You’re looking like a big leaguer — like you want to be there.’ “

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25