The Good Phil of the Week 7/15-7/21

In one of our biggest celebrations of the Philadelphia Phillies, every week the members of The Good Phight will be issuing one of baseball’s greatest achievements to date: The Good Phil of the Week Award. One MLB player and one MiLB player will receive the award each week and will be able to boast to their teammates that they are, in fact, a Good Phil.

Major League Good Phil of the Week: Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper certainly has more than enough doubters and haters at both the local and national level (we see you, we hear you). But what Bryce Harper also has is the numbers to back up the hype that has surrounded him since before he was even drafted.

This week, Bryce went 9-for-25 with five doubles, one home run and eight RBIs. His five-RBI game on the 16th set a season-high. He hasn’t accomplished that feat since 2017, and has only done so five times in his career.

Through the month of July he’s slashing .300/.394/.500 with six doubles, two home runs and eleven RBIs. More impressively, he’s batting .415/.510/.707 in 102 plate appearances with runners in scoring position throughout the entire season. Those 102 plate appearances include 34 hits, nine doubles, five home runs, 17 walks and 48 RBIs.

To put that into perspective, in his MVP season he slashed .301/.475/.549 in 158 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, including 34 hits, four doubles, eight home runs, 40 walks and 55 RBIs.

The difference in his numbers show that, when it matters, Harper is coming up clutch. For a team that’s struggled as a whole to take advantage of having men on base (.260/.342/.437 with runners on, .263/.359/.410 with RISP), Harper has been doing his damage when it counts.

What TGP Says:

Smarty- “Helped win two games vs. Dodgers with clutch hits.”

Schmenkman- “Led team in OPS for the week (1.132), and was way out in front in Win Probability Added thanks to several big hits.”

Justin Klugh- “Have you seen his numbers with RISP? They surfaced last week and they should really be all anyone is talking about on a team starved at times for offense and for a guy whose been doubted, questioned, and chanted at all season for not being good enough.”

Other Good Phils receiving votes:

Drew Smyly (2), Rhys Hoskins, Ranger Suarez, Jake Arrieta, Scott Kingery, Adam Haseley, Cole Irvin

Minor League Good Phil of the Week: Spencer Howard

Spencer Howard’s lone appearance this week was an absolute gem. He threw six innings of shutout ball and got the win over the St. Lucie Mets. He gave up just two hits and walked none while striking out four. He now boasts a 1.29 ERA with Clearwater this season, and a 1.79 ERA overall between the Gulf Coast League and the Florida State League.

In his three starts since returning to the Threshers, he’s given up just three hits and one walk over 15.0 innings while striking out 18 and allowing no runs.

Other Minor League Good Phils getting votes:

Alec Bohm (2), Bryson Stott, Mickey Moniak

Season Totals

Major League:

Bryce Harper: 5/27-6/2, 7/15/7/21

Jay Bruce: 6/3-6/9, 7/1-7/7

Scott Kingery: 6/10-6/16

Chase Utley: 6/17-6/23

Aaron Nola: 6/24-6/30, 7/1-7/7

Maikel Franco: 7/8-7/14

Minor League:

Adam Haseley: 5/27-6/2

Kyle Glogoski: 6/3-6/9, 6/17-6/23

Damon Jones: 6/10-6/16

Alec Bohm: 6/17-6/23, 6/24-6/30, 7/1-7/7

Bryson Stott: 7/8-7/14

Spencer Howard: 7/15/7/21