Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that the club has sent right-handed pitcher Justin De Fratus to the Texas Rangers as the player to be named later to complete the Patrick Kivlehan trade. Seattle acquired Kivlehan on May 29.
De Fratus, 28, was signed by Seattle on Dec. 2, 2015. With AAA Tacoma this season he was 2-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 19 relief appearances.
He previously spent his entire career in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, drafted in the 11^th round out of Ventura College (CA) in 2007. The 6-4, 225-pound right-hander was signed by then Phillies scout Tim Kissner, now the Mariners Director of International Operations.
Justin has been used exclusively as a relief pitcher the Major Leagues during the 2011-2015 seasons, making a total of 191 appearances, including 173 over the last three years. He was 0-2 with a 5.51 ERA in 61 appearances in 2015. His best season was 2014 when he was 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA for the Phillies in 54 appearances (12 walks and 49 strikeouts) with a 1.082 WHIP.