Diekman and De Fratus optioned out
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Diekman and De Fratus optioned out
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
CLEARWATER, Fla. --The Phillies continued to trim their roster Sunday morning and for the first time two guys who were part of the competition for bullpen spots were among the cuts.
Lefthander Jake Diekman and righthander Justin De Fratus were optioned to the minor-league complex, leaving Raul Valdes, Phillippe Aumont, Jeremy Horst, Michael Stutes and Aaron Cook as the top five candidates to fill out the final three spots in the bullpen.
Diekman and De Fratus both pitched in the big leagues last season and have two of the best arms in the organization, but pitching coach Rich Dubee said they need more work in the minors.
"Diekman has to learn to pitch backwards," Dubee said. "We want him throwing more changeups, using his changeup some to righties. We want him using first-pitch breaking balls and in 1-0 counts to lefthanders so people can't get started and cheat on his fastball. He also needs to command all three."
The 26-year-old lefty posted a 4.50 ERA in eight Grapefruit League appearances, allowing five runs on 12 hits and four walks in 10 innings. His 12 spring strikeouts are a clear indication of his potential. Diekman appeared in 32 games with the Phillies last season and was 1-1 with a 3.95 ERA.
Dubee said De Fratus still needs to build his arm strength.
"His arm is a little bit behind right now," the pitching coach said. "His breaking ball is a little too big. He's aware of that. I think he got started a little bit slower this year for whatever reason, but he'll be back in the picture soon. He's got plenty of stuff. He just has to get more reps and get it going."
De Fratus, 25, admitted Friday that he started a little bit slower with his long-toss throwing program this offseason because he suffered elbow soreness last year when he pushed too hard too soon. His first two outings of the spring were shaky, but he allowed just one run over six innings after that. Overall, he had a 6.00 ERA in seven appearance, allowing six runs on 10 hits and four walks in nine innings. He only had two strikeouts this spring.
In the last two seasons at the big-league level, De Fratus is 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA in 18 games.
"They're valuable pieces," Dubee said of Diekman and De Fratus. "Right now, they're not there, but they're in the picture for sure. We expect if we have an issue or something, those guys will be mentioned for sure."
In the meantime, the Phillies must sort through the remaining candidates to open the season in the bullpen.
Jonathan Papelbon, Mike Adams, Chad Durbin and Antonio Bastardo are locks to make the team.
Aumont, Horst, Stutes and Valdes would appear to be the most likely candidates to fill the final three spots in the pen unless the Phillies decide to keep Cook, a veteran big-league starter, as their long man.
Valdes, who had a 2.90 ERA in 27 games last season, has made a strong case to fill the long-reliever role by stringing together six scoreless innings in his last two outings.
Horst is coming off an outstanding 2012 season in which he went 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in 32 games. Stutes had a strong 2011 season, but missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. Aumont has the most overpowering arm among the bullpen candidates.
In addition to optioning Diekman and De Fratus, the Phillies also reassigned lefty Cesar Jimenez and infielder Josh Fields to the minor-league complex.
Happy St. Patty's Day
Roy Halladay will make his first start since his turbulent 2 2/3 innings Tuesday against Detroit by pitching against the Baltimore Orioles Sunday. He will also hit for the first time this spring.
The Phillies' hitters will face righthander Jason Hammel.
The lineup: Ben Revere, CF, Freddy Galvis, SS, Chase Utley, 2B, Ryan Howard, 1B, Michael Young, 3B, Domonic Brown, RF, Darin Ruf, LF, Erik Kratz, C, Roy Halladay, P.
I am glad Diekman was sent down. Someone needs to work with him on control. A late can't be that wild with his stuff. He needs some help.
Valdez is better now. Aumont is the same way. He needs work. Relievers must show control. Stutes if not overused like before is fine. The bullpen will be taxed with againg starters and the 2 huge questions at 4 and 5. Is Dubee a good pitching coach or simply a man that fell into a gig with great arms a few years ago. I have my thoughts.— wmontanez27- Stutes and Cook will be the next ones down. Stutes needs to develop arm strength after his shoulder surgery, even though he has made progress. And Valdes is the long guy, we don't need Cook as a long guy. We need him as our 6th starter, for when on of the 5 goes down. Therefore, Cooks needs to be in a rotation taking a regular turn to be ready, meaning LHV.— laser5
- Aumont,Horst,Valdez should round out the bullpen. I do like Diekmans,DeFratus and Stutes potential.
— argonne - I think Cook will take the incentive money and go to the minors as the 6th starter in waiting, at least until the June opt out date his contract has. Valdes will make the cut because they can't option him and he won't take a minor league contract the way he's pitched since coming to Philly -- someone else will give him a major league shot if we let him walk. Horst makes it with last year's performance giving him a big edge. That leaves one spot for Aumont or Stutes. I think they'll go with Stutes but it's close. They can send him down with the "needs more time after injury" excuse if they want to get a better look at Aumont first. But I think Stutes wins because of all the games he pitched in 2011.— s
- Aumon throw strikes consistently. There is no way he comes into a middle of inning with base runners or late with a run lead. Very risky reliever with questionable secondary stuff.— wmontanez27
- I am going to sound like a broken record and wonder out loud, again, why Bastardo is a lock. Doesn't the same criticism that applies to Aumont -- an uncertain ability to consistently throw strikes -- apply in spades to Bastardo? And Bastardo has had a lot more ML time to figure it out than Aumont. As far as I'm concerned, the Phillies would do just as well, or better, if they kept Horst and Valdes as their lefty BP guys, sent Bastardo down to ponder strike-throwing, and retained both Aumont and Stutes from the right side. I agree with laser and "s" that they don't need Cook on the ML roster to start the season (although I wouldn't be surprised to see him pretty soon if Halladay, Kendrick or Lannan fails to cut it).— Dave Clemens
- You must not follow Bastardo too closely. Throwing strikes is one of his strengths. Over 160 games he's got 11.6 SO/9 which is very high. He was third in the league last year there. Aumont has 8.6 SO/9 in just 18 games. Bastardo has had some consistency issues but Aumont has come nowhere near showing anything Bastardo has. They're not sending Bastardo down.
— s - Oh, but I do follow Bastardo. I've often watched him walk people in tight seventh- and eighth-inning situations. Yes, he does strike people out, but he also issues too many walks. His lifetime BB/9 is 4.1, which compares unfavorably with Papelbon's, Adams's 2.6, Valdes's 3.4, Durbin's 3.9 and Horst's 3.9. If there's one thing you do NOT want a late-inning reliever doing, it's giving up walks. You'd rather have a hit than a walk, because with a hit, at least there may have been a chance a fielder could make a play. Walks on deep counts -- one of Bastardo's specialities (his 4.2 pitches per plate appearance is well above the MLB average of 3.8) -- also demobilize the fielders.
- I think it ties in with his consistency problem. I think if you look at his splits, his walk level is fine when he's "on" but it goes way up in those bad stretches ... which is partly why they become so bad. That's my biggest issue with him. You look at his great 2011 but then at his September there, which was awful. Then last year he had a few bad stretches -- first starting the year, then later in the July/August time frame.
He often seems tired when he hits those bad stretches. So having Adams and not relying on Bastardo so much may help. But I think it's hard to say ... If he doesn't get enough work who knows? I think you have to start by giving him the benefit of the doubt. If he fails with the much better 2012 supporting cast, then you consider sending him down.
He's frustrating for sure. Last year only one of 3 relievers with a SO/9 of 14 more though.— s - I think early in the season it would be a really good idea to have a couple of guys who can throw multiple innings. Let Stutes prove he is healthy in the minors and have Aumont closing at AAA for now. Bullpen to start the season: Paps, Adams, Durbin, Bastardo, Horst, Valdez, and Cook. If any of the starters falter early, Cook steps in, and that keeps him stretched out. I like all the young arms, Aumont especially. I wuld not be surprised to see one of the guys they just sent down traded to allow then to keep Inciarte.— Paul SoTX
- Not a Diekman fan. Just something about him says he will never work out.— scootch
- Diekman probably has the best fastball of all the LH relievers. He needs to work on his secondary stuff. They changed his arm slot last year and his secondary pitches are still catching up according to some analysts. I think he can work out but I think sending him down was the right thing to do for now. — s
- If I'm RAJ, I'm taking a long look at Carlos Zambrano. He pitched well in the WBC and at 32, in a new environment away from all the hype and hysteria from Chicago/Miami, he could be a real sleeper. Has starter stuff, just needs a good voice to keep things in perspective. Someone will take a chance on the guy and he will give them 25-30 starts and possibly 13 wins on the right team.— drhoffman
- You have the facts right drhoffman but the guy is about as unstable as a Roman Candle, and likely to go off like one as well. Perhaps where he isn't the center of attention it might work, yet, the guy thinks he is a #1 because that's what he's been told.
I'd pass. And after today, I think Aumont goes down too.— 24sDad
