Philadelphia Phillies Weekly Awards: April 23-29

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Apr 9, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher Andrew Knapp (34) stands on second base with a double and his first major league hit during the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

The Phillies are right back into the mix of things after going 3 and 2 on the week.

April was good to this Phils as Philadelphia is now sitting at 11-11(.500) on the season and are headed in the right direction.

As the team turns to May, we take a look at the best and worst players from the last week of April.

All statistics referenced following from MLB.com

Most Valuable Position Player: Runner Up

Andrew Knapp

Knapp had a nice week this week albeit in limited playing time. The rookie backstop went 4 for 9 while capping off his week with his first career home run.

The 25-year-old catcher is now batting .304 on the season with four extra base hits in just 23 at bats.

Most Valuable Pitcher: Runner Up

Joaquin Benoit

Benoit put up some solid numbers this week. The 39-year-old right appeared in three games pitching three innings while striking out four. Benoit has lowered his season ERA to 2.31 and is molding himself into an attractive trade chip.

Least Valuable Position Player: Runner Up

Cameron Rupp

Rupp once again finds himself in the LVPP discussion. The veteran catcher was just 1 for 7(.143) on the week with four strikeouts.

This is the second straight week that Rupp has struck out in just around 50% of his at bats. With Knapp seeing more at-bats this week and making the most of them, Rupp may be looking at a reduced role in May.

Least Valuable Pitcher: Runner Up

Jerad Eickhoff

Eickhoff took a little bit of a beating Friday against the Dodgers. Eickhoff was lit up for nine hits and five earned runs over 5.2 innings. The 26-year-old righty has been mostly stellar this season and this last outing should just be a small bump in the road.

Least Valuable Position Player

Tommy Joseph

Joseph has had a horrendous April and this past week didn’t help. The 25-year-old righty went 1 for 8(.125) providing little else to the stat line except for zeros.

Joseph is now hitting just .190 with just one home run through the first month of the season. With Joseph and Brock Stassi both struggling, the Phillies future at first base is now in question.

This is Joseph’s second LVPP award on the year.

Least Valuable Pitcher

Hector Neris

More from That Balls Outta Here

Neris had a nightmare week. The split-finger specialist gave up eight hits and six runs in just 3.1 innings pitched.

Neris’ week was capped off by giving up back to back to back home runs to Yasiel Puig, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner to blow a 5-2 lead in the bottom of ninth on Saturday night.

It looks as if the closer by committee will continue for the foreseeable future as it’s becoming evident that nobody wants to step up and nail down the job.

This is Neris’ first LVP award of the season.

Apr 23, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zach Eflin (56) pitches during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Most Valuable Position Player

Freddy Galvis

Galvis had quite the week this week, batting .421 while recording the weekly cycle. The veteran shortstop mashed himself a double, triple and home run en route to MVPP honors. Galvis is now hitting .268 on the season with three home runs and twelve runs batted in. He extended his hitting streak to 12 straight games Sunday.

This is Galvis’ first MVPP award of the year.

Most Valuable Pitcher

Zach Eflin

Once again, Jeremy Hellickson made his case for another MVP award, however, Eflin was more than deserving.

The 23-year-old was excellent this week but was awarded no wins for his efforts. Eflin worked through 14 innings, only giving up seven hits and three runs in the process.

Eflin managed to lead the starters in BAA(.143), WHIP(0.50) and strikeouts(7). The righty remains winless on the season, however, his 1.89 ERA in his three outings is a nice consolation.

Next: Maikel Franco Deserving of Triple-A

This is Eflin’s first MVP award of the season.

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Philadelphia Phillies Weekly Awards 4/23-4/29