Justin De Fratus

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"That feeling at the end of that inning, that's why us relievers play baseball. That feeling – that's the feeling we chase. And the only way to get that feeling is to get out of a jam. So we invite those situations. You'd rather not deal with them. There's nothing better than a clean scoreless inning. But that feeling you get, that's what you are chasing every time, so every time you feel it, it's an amazing feeling, and you want to feel it as much as possible."

De Fratus summarizing his love for pitching [26]

A fastball and a slider comprise De Fratus's pitching repertoire; his fastball averages about 93 miles per hour (150 km/h), but occasionally touches 95 miles per hour (153 km/h), while his slider is about 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) slower than that. [27] His slider was able to "dominate the league" in 2014, and although he does not total as many strikeouts as some relievers, he has established himself as a dependable piece in the Phillies' bullpen. [13] Early in his career, De Fratus aspired to be a closer, but after realizing that an "all-or-nothing" mentality was not necessarily conducive to success, he sought to relax more and focus on being a quality setup reliever, projecting confidence on the mound. [28] Especially in the Phillies' young bullpen, the need for reliable late-innings relievers was great, underscoring the importance of De Fratus's emergence. [26] He is most successful when he utilizes a lower arm angle, and works quickly on the mound. [14]

Personal life

De Fratus is a devout Roman Catholic who, though he was raised in a large Catholic family, struggled with his faith after an injury early in his career, but ultimately determined the injury was a gift from God to help him better understand his faith: "I really feel that the setback was God telling me, ‘Hey you are not done. You are not done yet figuring out what you need to figure out, and I am going to give you a little more time.’ There is a big reason why that injury happened and I feel that I used it as best as I could have." He noted that he would like to take classes at a seminary to help proselytize to others. [29] Early in his professional career, he struggled to find fellow Catholics, and noted that most of his teammates were either Protestants or not religious. Moreover, in many small towns that house minor league teams, there are no Catholic churches, so De Fratus found it easy to slide away from leading a Catholic lifestyle. However, upon realizing that there is more to life than material success, he discovered a need for God, and has thus developed his faith. [30] Aside from his faith, he enjoys writing and recording music, and playing the guitar. [1] He has two brothers, the older of whom, Steve, played in the minor leagues, and the younger of whom, Chris, caught a foul ball during De Fratus's major league debut. [31] [32]

During the offseason preceding the 2015 season, De Fratus became involved in some controversy involving Phillies blogger Bill Baer and the Black Lives Matter campaign when he tweeted, "I'm sick of this black vs white and men vs women garbage that's been going on. We're just people. #AllLivesMatter," to which Baer responded with a scathing column on Crashburn Alley, a blog affiliated with ESPN, in which he stated that De Fratus is "complicit in perpetuating a system which inflicts violence on those who didn’t have the luxury of being born white and male and straight and in an economically-stable area." [33] Subsequently, De Fratus penned a retort to Baer via Facebook, in which he commented, "I sincerely hope that you will take the time to talk to me personally next time before you decide to hide behind your computer screen and criticize me, my upbringing and my character based on 140 characters. I do not apologize for anything I have said. I have a platform and I WILL use it for the agenda of love." [34]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Clark, Bonnie, ed. (March 2014). 2014 Philadelphia Phillies Media Guide. The Phillies. pp. 80–81.
  2. 1 2 Manzano, Gilberto (July 5, 2013). "Phillies with a side of mustard". Camarillo Acorn. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ Dransfeldt, Jeffrey (June 1, 2013). "Rio Mesa High graduate Justin De Fratus returns to majors calm and confident". Ventura County Star . Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  4. ↑ Mandel, Ken (June 9, 2007). "Phils keep focus on size as Draft wraps". MLB.com: News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Justin De Fratus Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights". Lehigh Valley IronPigs Stats. Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Gelb, Matt (February 23, 2011). "How Phils spell relief: C-o-n-v-e-r-t a s-t-a-r-t-e-r". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ Potkey, Rhiannon (September 20, 2011). "De Fratus has a ball in major league debut". Ventura County Star. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Hagen, Paul (January 11, 2011). "RHP De Fratus auditioning for a spot in Phillies bullpen". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ Bloom, Barry M. (May 11, 2013). "Phillies option Tyler Cloyd, call up Justin De Fratus for bullpen". phillies.com: News. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ Burkhart, Anthony (January 26, 2013). "Golf Helps De Fratus". Republican and Herald. Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015– via HighBeam Research.
  11. ↑ Bingol, Spencer (November 16, 2013). "Player Review/Preview: Justin De Fratus". That Balls Outta Here. Fansided – a division of Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  12. ↑ Zolecki, Todd (April 13, 2014). "De Fratus optioned as Phils call up fresh bullpen arm". phillies.com: News. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 Landrey, Corinne (October 9, 2014). "2014 Phillies Report Card: Justin De Fratus". Crashburn Alley. SweetSpot Network, an ESPN affiliate. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Joyce, Greg (April 30, 2014). "Lehigh Valley IronPigs reliever Justin De Fratus using film to get back to form". The Express-Times . Easton, Pennsylvania: PennLive. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ Zolecki, Todd (June 19, 2014). "Bullpen a strength in Phillies' run". The Zo Zone – MLBlogs. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on June 28, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Mariners add bullpen depth, agree to 1-year deal with reliever Justin de Fratus". 2 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  17. ↑ Todd, Jeff (March 16, 2016). "Mariners Release Justin De Fratus". mlbtraderumors.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Major League Baseball Transactions in March 2016". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  19. ↑ Johns, Greg (June 11, 2016). "Reliever De Fratus dealt to Rangers". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on 2016-06-27. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  20. ↑ "Minor MLB Transactions: 2/28/17". Archived from the original on 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  21. ↑ Eddy, Matt (March 29, 2017). "MINOR LEAGUE TRANSACTIONS: MARCH 18-24". Baseball America. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  22. ↑ Polishuk, Mark (February 17, 2018). "Minor MLB Transactions: 2/17/18". mlbtraderumors.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  23. ↑ Lewis, Barry (June 13, 2018). "Five Drillers selected for Texas League All-Star Game". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  24. 1 2 "Justin De Fratus Minor, Fall, Winter and Independent League Statistics & History". Baseball Reference. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  25. ↑ "OKC Dodgers Announce 2020 Coaching Staff". milb.com. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  26. 1 2 Murphy, David (July 3, 2013). "De Fratus shuts down Pirates as Phillies win". The Philadelphia Daily News . Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  27. ↑ Lee, Alex (October 2, 2013). "Phillies Player Review: Justin De Fratus". 2013 Player Reviews – Phillies Nation. Phillies Nation. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  28. ↑ Montemurro, Miguel (July 30, 2014). "Phillies reliever Justin De Fratus finds comfort zone". The News Journal . Wilmington, Delaware. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  29. ↑ Carney, Patrick (October 24, 2012). "Mercy vs. Evil and the Major Leagues". FaithWorks. Catholic Relief Services. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  30. ↑ Beattie, Trent (February 25, 2014). "Discovering Brotherly Love in Baseball". National Catholic Register . Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  31. ↑ Housenick, Mandy (September 19, 2011). "Phillies flat, hit into three double plays as Cole Hamels loses second consecutive start". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Steven DeFratus Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  33. ↑ Baer, Bill (February 9, 2015). "An open letter to Justin De Fratus". Crashburn Alley. SweetSpot Network, an ESPN affiliate. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  34. ↑ Scott, Kyle (February 11, 2015). "A Phillies pitcher destroyed an obnoxious SABR blogger on social media, and his message will inspire you". Crossing Broad. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
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Justin De Fratus
2012 09 27 Phillies 008 Justin De Fratus.JPG
Justin De Fratus during batting practice in Philadelphia on September 27, 2012
Relief pitcher
Born: (1987-10-21) October 21, 1987 (age 36)
Oxnard, California, U.S.
Batted: Switch
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 18, 2011, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 2015, for the Philadelphia Phillies