J.D. Durbin Is A Phillies Pitcher

Yesterday, the Phillies took their third straight game from the San Diego Padres, a 9-0 complete-game win by pitcher J.D. “Real Deal” Durbin. Durbin is on his fourth major league team this season: He was with the Twins in Spring Training, pitched in one game for the Diamondbacks, giving up 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning, was picked up by the Red Sox and sent to the minors the same day — which is when the Phillies ended up picking him up.

Now that he’s pitched two good games in a row, and even though had he not been pitching in the Grand Canyon yesterday he would have given up like 200 homers, perhaps Durbin is proving the fourth team is a charm. And so, taking inspiration from the website Cole Hamels Facts (a knockoff of Chuck Norris jokes, which were themselves a knockoff of Vin Diesel jokes, I think, which were themselves knockoffs of Leonardo da Vinci jokes in the 1500s, which were themselves a knockoff of the four gospels), it’s time for Real Deal Durbin Facts. Durbin isn’t quite as good as

• According to the Phillies website, J.D. Durbin is 6′0″ and 210 pounds, though both of those could be higher or lower depending on who’s measuring.
• J.D. stands for Joseph Adam.
• J.D.’s nickname, Real Deal, comes from his first start in the Gulf Coast League, where after the first inning of his pro career he turned to a teammate and said “See, I told you I was the real deal.”
• Real Deal Durbin once had a Myspace page with the URL myspace.com/titsandassforme.
• As of July 23, Real Deal Durbin is hitting .444 in his major league career.

J.D. Durbin [Baseball-Reference]
J.D. Durbin [Phillies.com]
Return of the Real Deal: Twins’ Durbin vows to bring swagger back [AP/ESPN.com]
J.D. Durbin Is Quite Clear About What He Likes [Deadspin]
ColeHamelsFacts.com