Justin De Fratus Interview

Justin De Fratus Interview:

Justin De Fratus has been a prospect that has been much debated about on various sights such as phuturephillies and the philly.com’s very own sports forum. Reasons for this include because in his first year he put up mediocre stats but has drastically improved as he has gone up in the minor league system. He moved from a 4.30 ERA in the GCL league at age 19 to a 3.67 ERA in Williamsport at age 20, and then to a very respectable 3.19 ERA for the Lakewood Blueclaws. Justin is a very interesting prospect because split time starting and relieving while putting up these stats in Lakewood. He finished the season a bit banged up and didn’t get to finish on the SAL League Champions.

Now for my comparison, last week’s was a bit easier with vlad/domingo. One guy who is the same weight/size at 6’4” and 215 LBS is former Phillies Opening Day starter Brett Myers. Myers’ Single A stats were very simliar but Myers did make more starts than De Fratus. However, Justin seems to be much less of a headcase, nothing against Myers, and has incredible strikeout to walk ratios. There are some people who put up a lot of strikeouts, including Justin and Myers, but walks are very key to a pitchers success. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are aces not because of strikeouts, they are top notch because they can limit walks. Ultimately, Justin has had very high strikeout to walk stats, which is why one day he could be a succesful 3rd or 4th starter or bullpen guy.

Q: Last year you had 110 IP with 101 K's and 1.127 WHIP, do you consider yourself a control pitcher or a power pitcher?

A: As bad as I wish I was a power Pitcher, I would have to attribute most of my success to control. I do feel I have the ability to be a power pitcher at times. I'll consider myself more of a power guy when my strike outs increase.

Q: Over the past 3 years your ERA has decreased substantially despite going up three levels in the minor leagues. Would you say this is due to being more of a reliever or would you say that you would rather be a starter?

A: I personally don't care what I do as long as I'm pitching. The goal is to be in Philadelphia and whether its as a starter or a reliever makes no difference to me. As far as my ERA, I would have to credit it to a bunch of things: pitching down in the zone with more consistency, better location, pitching smarter, and just growing as a pitcher in general.

Q: You were on the SAL League Champion Lakewood Blueclaws, how did it feel to win the title?

A: It felt great! I'm just excited to get that ring. I do wish I was able to contribute but you have to keep it all in perspective. Why risk further injury for an A ball championship. The goal is to bring championships to Philadelphia, not Lakewood. And although we play everyday to win, you have to remember the big picture. Plus, our team was deep, it was better to have somebody else out there at 100 percent than me at about 60.

Q: What pitches are in your arsenal?

A: Fastball, slider, changeup

Written by JKearse123