The Good Phight’s Player of the Week: June 17-23

Usually, this award is reserved for one player. One player that has had a week that went above and beyond for the team, that had that hot streak that can add to all the counting totals he has.

This week was the rare week where it was just too difficult to choose between the two players most deserving, so we just chose both.

Bryce Harper: 27 PA, 3 HR, 7 R, 5 RBI, .462/.481/.923, 292 wRC+
Cristopher Sanchez: 2 GS, 2 W, 14 IP, 19.1 K%, 2.1 BB%, 0.64 ERA (2.07 FIP)

Forget the fact that both were insanely good this past week, we can start looking at more prestigious awards for both. Bryce Harper is a legitimate candidate for the NL MVP award. Depending on your view of the DH and its value to team success, there is an argument that he is the leader in the clubhouse, but there is that guy out west that has something to say about that right now.

While Sanchez doesn’t have the same cache as other starters in the game, he should be talked about when it comes to the Cy Young award. Now, obviously there is a lot of season still to go. Chances are that he declines a bit, falling out of the top tier of the discussion and we all marvel that he had a really good season. Right now, he’s seventh in baseball in fWAR for pitchers (2.6) and has all the other numbers to back that up. He’s been really, really good this year. It’s not crazy to think he’s been a top tier pitcher this season and this week, we saw that all on display.

Honorable mention

Nick Castellanos: 25 PA, 2 HR, 3 R, 8 RBI, .478/.480/.913, 279 wRC+

Folks, Castellanos has been hitting quite well for some time and it’s time to acknowledge that he’s brought himself back from the abyss of his poor start to the season. Since April 30, he’s hit .257/.302/.492 with 10 HR and 30 RBI. Those numbers are perfectly fine and are quite productive when considering the offensive environment baseball finds itself in this year.