Philadelphia Phillies Weekly Award Winners: Mid Year Edition
Well….this season hasn’t gone as expected.
The Philadelphia Phillies finished the first half of the season as the worst team in professional baseball. It has been a struggle for fans to tune in each night as all they end up seeing is a glorified version of The Benchwarmers.
I guess it can only go up from here.
Using the player of the week point system, let’s take a look at the best and worst performers for the Phillies in the first half of 2017.
All statistics referenced from MLB.com.
Least Valuable Position Player
Michael Saunders (-6 points)
It was a tough stint with the Phillies for the veteran left but it is hard to fault GM Matt Klentak for taking a shot in the dark. Saunders hit just .205 as a Phillie with just six home runs and 20 RBIs.
Runner Up
Maikel Franco and Cameron Rupp (-5 points)
Rupp has been horrendous and has lost a decent amount of playing time because of it. The veteran backstop is hitting just .220 with just 14 extra base hits. Rupp has also struck out in over 30% of his at bats.
Least Valuable Pitcher
Joely Rodriguez (-4 points)
Rodriguez has been awful in the first half. Sporting a 6.33 ERA and 1.93 WHIP won’t win over many fans and his 19 earned runs are the most of any pitcher out of the bullpen.
Runner Up
Adam Morgan and Edubray Ramos (-4 points)
This could literally be half of the team but we’ll narrow it down to Adam Morgan and Edubray Ramos. Morgan is only a notch better than Rodriguez in terms of ERA and Ramos may end up with more losses than any Phillies starter has wins by the end of the year.
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Most Valuable Position Player
Howie Kendrick (+7 points)
Kendrick is what we were hoping that Saunders would be but I guess we’ll settle for one solid veteran. Kendrick is hitting .349 on the season with a .403 OBP in the first half of 2017. When healthy, Kendrick has shown that he is fully rebounded from a rough 2016 campaign and continues to build his trade value as we head closer to the deadline.
Runner Up
Aaron Altherr (+6 points)
To me, Altherr has been the most consistently impressive Phillies this season. The 26 year old outfielder is hitting .284 with a team leading 35 XBH including 14 home runs. Altherr will be a fun watch for the rest of the season and could be the first legitimate offensive piece of the rebuilding process.
Most Valuable Pitcher
Pat Neshek (+9 points)
As the Phillies only All Star representative, Neshek was the easy choice for MVP. The right sideslinger is 2-2 with an astounding 1.27 ERA in 38 games this season all while maintaining a WHIP under 1.00.
The only downside to Neshek?
He’ll be gone by the end of July.
Next: Phillies discussing trade for Stanton and Yelich
Runner Up
Aaron Nola (+4 points)
Nola is starting to become what we thought he would be. After an excellent June and early July, Nola now holds a 6-6 record and 3.59 ERA. Nola leads all starters in WHIP, wins and strikeouts.