Diekman, De Fratus Join Phillies

RHP Justin De Fratus (Photo by John Russo/Team to Beat)

ATLANTA — Lehigh Valley’s season is officially over, and that leaves the Phillies with a handful of young arms and positon players for the remaining month of the season.

Jake Diekman, who had an earlier stint with the Phillies this season, was recalled Saturday afternoon.

In 23 appearances, Diekman posted a 4.64 ERA. He started pitching incredibly well for the Phillies but the left-handed side-armer ran hit a wall and found himself with the inability to find the strike zone.

As a result of that, Diekman walked 17 batters in 21 1/3 innings, affecting his WHIP which stands at a 1.594 as well as his 6.3 BB/9.

The other arm being called up was Justin De Fratus, who the Phillies selected this morning.

The right-handed De Fratus was a sure thing to crack the bullpen heading into this season but elbow and forearm surgery in the off season slowed down his path back to the Majors.

De Fratus did pitch with the Phillies last season in September, allowing a run in four innings of work. Another side-armer, De Fratus has a really nice slider and poses a real match-up problem for right-handed hitters.

De Fratus looked good in Lehigh after he returned from injury. He posted a 2.49 ERA with 22 strike outs in 21 2/3 innings.

Both pitchers will be in Atlanta today for the Phillies game at 5:05 ET.

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