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Phillies Notebook: Phillies' De Fratus benefits from throwing strikes

Reliever Justin De Fratus has an important 10-pitch inning in 6-2 victory against the Miami Marlins.

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Justin De Fratus (30) throws the ball against the Miami Marlins during the sixth inning at Marlins Park. (Steve Mitchell/USA Today)
Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Justin De Fratus (30) throws the ball against the Miami Marlins during the sixth inning at Marlins Park. (Steve Mitchell/USA Today)Read more

MIAMI - The Phillies' pitching staff has walked 103 batters in 26 games this season; that is 10 more than the next closest team. The relief corps has issued 47 of those walks in 80 1/3 innings; that's also the most in baseball.

The pitchers have been talked to about it. There have been meetings.

But eventually the guys with the ball in their hands have to make it happen. Justin De Fratus did just that in a big spot yesterday afternoon.

After the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth in Miami, De Fratus charged out of the bullpen and needed just 10 pitches to blitz through the meat of the Marlins' batting order.

De Fratus struck out all three hitters he faced - Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Michael Morse - to record an all-important shutdown inning and keep the momentum in the visiting dugout, too.

"That's more of the presence I'm used to seeing in him," manager Ryne Sandberg said of De Fratus, who looked more confident with each pitch he let loose.

De Fratus began the inning by taking care of Stanton with three pitches, finishing the $300 million man off with a slider that darted out of the strike zone.

"Today it was just, 'You know what, I'm going to make these guys beat me before I beat myself.' That's really what it is," said De Fratus, who had walked four in his previous three appearances. "I'm not going to beat myself. This game, this level, it's already hard enough as it is . . . When we took the lead, that in itself right there - I'm not going to walk anyone, I can't put the tying runs on base. I can't do this."

The next trick, of course, is having consistency and putting together a string of outings like yesterday. How is that done?

"Just getting back to that person who doesn't care if you hit the ball," De Fratus said. "Go ahead, hit it. Not in a cocky sense at all. But it's just saying, if you can hit it, then go ahead and do it. And that's why I fell in love with being a reliever in the first place. I kind of lost sight of that. You want to get back to that point of being aggressive and really letting the ball go and just trusting your stuff."

Buchanan optioned

The Phillies optioned David Buchanan to Triple A Lehigh Valley on Saturday. The 25-year-old righthander was 0-5 with an 8.76 ERA in five starts.

At the conclusion of his last start, a 9-3 loss at St. Louis, Buchanan's ERA and WHIP (1.90) both ranked 131st out of 131 qualifying big-league starters. As a rookie last season, Buchanan went 6-8 with a 3.75 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 20 starts.

"Like [Domonic Brown], it's not a punishment," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr told reporters on Saturday. "But you have to perform. For him, I think it's a matter of getting himself right. Again, we believe in him. We believe in his makeup. We believe in a lot of things. He just hasn't performed, and it's time for him to go down and get himself straightened out so we can get him back."

The Phillies recalled lefthanded reliever Elvis Araujo to take Buchanan's place on the active roster. Veteran Chad Billingsley will take Buchanan's place in the rotation; he's set to make his Phillies debut tomorrow night in Atlanta.

Billingsley has been limited to two major league starts since 2012 after undergoing two elbow surgeries.

Billingsley retired the final 10 batters he faced and didn't allow an earned run in his most recent rehab start with Lehigh Valley on Thursday, when his big-league promotion appeared imminent.

"It'd be awesome," Billingsley said of the long road back. "It's been a long road with a lot of hard work and a lot of grinding. Just to be pitching at a big-league field again and being back out there would be awesome."

Righthander Sean O'Sullivan (left knee tendinitis) is scheduled to make his first rehab start on Thursday at low-A Lakewood.

Phillers

Top prospect J.P. Crawford is expected to be activated off the disabled list by Class A Clearwater today. The 20-year-old shortstop suffered an oblique injury on March 24 after getting off to a strong showing in minor league camp this spring. Crawford, the 16th overall pick in the 2013 draft and rated the 14th-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America this winter, could get to Double A Reading before long. Crawford hit .285 with a .781 OPS, 11 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 123 games between Clearwater and low-A Lakewood in 2014, his first full professional season . . . Odubel Herrera collected a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning, extending his streak to 18 straight games of reaching base safely. Herrera (.304) has at least one hit in 14 of his last 15 games . . . Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth inning, but remains one save shy of tying Jose Mesa for the franchise record of 112 saves. Papelbon was credited with a game finished; with nine on the season, Papelbon is 39 games finished away from having his $13 million option for 2016 guaranteed.