The Dodgers announced Monday that De Fratus joined the Triple-A Oklahoma City staff as a bullpen coach, signaling the end of his playing career.
De Fratus inked a minor-league contract with the Dodgers last winter, but he never had the opportunity to pitch for the organization in 2020 after he wasn't included in Los Angeles' 60-man roster pool following the cancellation of the minor-league season. He'll now transition into coaching, concluding a career that included 191 MLB relief appearances from 2011 through 2015, all with the Phillies. De Fratus retires with a career 7-6 record and 4.08 ERA.
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Justin De Fratus: Let go by Dodgers
Rotowire
The Dodgers released De Fratus on Sept. 1.
De Fratus was assigned to the Dodgers' Double-A affiliate in Tulsa coming out of spring training, but he never got the chance to appear for the club after the 2020 minor-league season was cancelled. The Dodgers chose not to include him in their 60-man roster pool prior to summer camp before ultimately cutting De Fratus loose so he could pursue opportunities elsewhere. De Fratus last appeared in the majors in 2015, when he tossed 80 innings over 61 relief outings with Philadelphia.
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Dodgers' Justin De Fratus: Re-signs with Dodgers
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De Fratus agreed Saturday with the Dodgers on a minor-league contract, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
De Fratus will stick around in the organization after splitting time between Triple-A Oklahoma City and Double-A Tulsa in 2018. Between the two stops, the 31-year-old compiled a 4.74 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 93 strikeouts across 133 frames.
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Dodgers' Justin De Fratus: Named pitcher of the week
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De Fratus was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week on Monday, Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA.com reports.
At the major-league level, De Fratus was last seen posting a 5.51 ERA in 80 innings of relief for the Phillies back in 2015. Now 30 years old, De Fratus is with his fourth organization since that time and is now a starting pitcher, having made the switch in the Mariners' organization last season. In five starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City this year, the veteran has a 2.76 ERA. Even if injuries open a path back to the big leagues for De Fratus, don't expect much. His strikeout rate at Triple-A is just 10.9 percent, so it's difficult to see him being very effective against major-league hitters.
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Dodgers' Justin De Fratus: Latches on with Dodgers
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De Fratus signed a minor-league contract with the Dodgers on Saturday, Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA.com reports.
De Fratus will likely serve as organizational pitching depth for the Dodgers. The 30-year-old hasn't pitched in the majors since 2015, and he spent all of the 2017 campaign with Double-A Arkansas, compiling a 4.85 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 98.1 innings.
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Mariners' Justin De Fratus: Joins Mariners
Rotowire
De Fratus was assigned to Double-A Arkansas on Thursday after the Mariners purchased his contract from the Atlantic League.
The 29-year-old hasn't seen the majors since 2015, though he has a good number of big-league innings under his belt with the Phillies. De Fratus owns a career 4.08 ERA across five seasons (194 innings) with the Phillies, and given he spent 2016 in the minors with three different organizations, he doesn't appear to be anything more than an organizational depth piece.
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Mariners' Justin De Fratus: Will start season in the minors
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De Fratus has been reassigned to minor league camp, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
De Fratus had been brought on as a non-roster invite, and as expected, will begin the season in the minors. The 28-year-old reliever got off to a bit of a rusty start this spring, posting a 9.45 ERA over five appearances.
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Justin De Fratus: Signs minor league deal with Mariners
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De Fratus signed a minor league deal with the Mariners on Friday, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
De Fratus inked a one-year deal with the Mariners earlier in the offseason but was released on Wednesday after having some underwhelming outings this spring (6.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 4 K, 3 BB). He'll rejoin the Mariners' organization on a minor league deal and figures to add bullpen depth at Triple-A Tacoma.
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Justin De Fratus: Released by Mariners on Wednesday
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De Fratus was released by the Mariners on Wednesday, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
De Fratus had appeared in four Spring Training gamest thus far, but had trouble breaking 89 on the radar gun with his fastball. He had given up three earned runs across six innings while holding a 4:3 K:BB ratio. After a tough year with the Phillies last year, De Fratus may struggle to find another MLB option, but should surface in an organization somewhere.
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Mariners' Justin De Fratus: Inks major league deal with Mariners
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De Fratus signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Mariners on Wednesday, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.
While De Fratus struggled mightily throughout 2015, posting a 5.51 ERA across 61 appearances, he's earned a major league contract on the strength of his overall track record at the big-league level. The right-hander had a 2.39 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 2014 (54 appearances), and sub-4.00 marks in each of the previous two seasons. He will likely push for a front-end bullpen role in spring training.
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Pitcher Justin De Fratus elects free agency
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Right-hander Justin De Fratus has elected free agency, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The Phillies outrighted De Fratus earlier in the week after a disappointing season -- his ERA jumped more than three run from 2014 -- and he has decided to explore opportunities elsewhere rather than remain in the organization. De Fratus doesn't have the stuff to ever be a reliable back-end arm, but he figures to at least receive an invite to spring training with another club.
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Justin De Fratus: Elects free agency
Rotowire
De Fratus has elected free agency, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The Phillies outrighted De Fratus earlier in the week after a disappointing season -- his ERA jumped more than three run from 2014 -- and he has decided to explore opportunities elsewhere rather than remain in the organization. De Fratus doesn't have the stuff to ever be a reliable back-end arm, but he figures to at least receive an invite to spring training with another club.
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Phillies P Justin De Fratus ejected from game against Orioles
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Phillies pitcher Justin De Fratus was ejected from Tuesday night's game against the Orioles for throwing at shortstop J.J. Hardy in the sixth inning, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
De Fratus' didn't argue the ejection and left the game. His day finished after one inning pitched. He gave up two earned runs, walked one and struck out two. His ERA is now 3.82 for the season.
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Phillies reliever Justin De Fratus pitching more economically
Rotowire
Justin De Fratus has seen his season turn around for the Phillies thanks to a tweak that is resulting in him throwing fewer pitches, per the Inquirer.
The reliever started the season nibbling around the plate, but after meeting with Phillies staff, he has become more aggressive and efficient. De Fratus' ERA has dropped by nearly 2.5 runs since his meeting and he only needed 17 pitches to get through his inning of work Sunday.
"A great inning is 10 pitches or less. A workable inning is 15 or less. Then I can come back the next day and pitch three days in a row," De Fratus said. "That's the goal. The number of pitches was just a matter of me not making pitches and not being as aggressive as I could've been."
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Phillies' De Fratus spent offseason adding velocity to fastball
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Phillies reliever Justin De Fratus spent the offseason working on adding velocity to his fastball after losing a little zip on the pitch last season, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
De Fratus said he built up arm strength through a long-toss program.
"I look at long toss like weightlifting," De Fratus said. "The only way to get stronger is to keep doing it. How do you train your arm to go faster? Well, you try to throw it fast. That's how I did it.
"Knock on wood, I feel good. I'm ready to get after it to see if the work that I put into the offseason helps."
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Justin De Fratus picks up win Tuesday
Rotowire
Phillies pitcher Justin De Fratus earned a win Tuesday, giving up two hits and striking out one in a scoreless inning of work in his team's 4-3 victory over the Pirates.
De Fratus (3-1) was able to keep the Pirates at bay in the seventh inning despite surrendering a pair of two-out hits. He's surrendered just one earned run in his last 10 appearances. De Fratus owns a 2.57 ERA and 45:11 K:BB ratio in 49 innings.
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Justin De Fratus takes loss Tuesday vs. Marlins
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Phillies pitcher Justin De Fratus was saddled with a loss Tuesday after giving up a walkoff single in his team's 5-4, 11-inning defeat against the Marlins.
De Fratus (2-1) tossed a perfect 10th inning before surrendering a single to the leadoff batter in the 11th. After a sacrifice moved the runner into scoring position, the reliever surrendered another single to bring home the winning runn. De Fratus hadn't given up a run since rejoining the team in late May before Tuesday. He owns a 1.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 20:5 K:BB ratio in 23 1/3 innings.
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Phillies recall Justin De Fratus
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The Phillies recalled pitcher Justin De Fratus from Triple-A Lehigh Valley Sunday.
De Fratus posted a 7.20 ERA in four appearances with the Phillies this season before being sent down in mid-April. He owns a 4.50 ERA and 13:4 K:BB ratio in 16 innings with Lehigh Valley.
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Phillies demote one reliever, recall another Sunday
Rotowire
The Phillies announced Sunday they optioned reliever Justin De Fratus to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They recalled reliever Luis Garcia from Lehigh Valley to take his roster spot.
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Justin De Fratus returns to action with scoreless inning
Rotowire
Phillies pitcher Justin De Fratus pitched a scoreless inning and struck one batter out in his team's 6-0 win over the Yankees Tuesday.
It was De Fratus' first outing since March 14 as he's been dealing with the flu. He has surrendered one earned run in six innings while striking out six and walking none this spring.
