Philadelphia Sports: Winner and loser of the week

It was an exciting week in Philadelphia Sports; The Phillies got back on track, Mike Schmidt made headlines like it was 1979, the Eagles entered week three of OTAs, and the Sixers are entertaining offers for the third pick in the NBA Draft.

All of that said, the staff of Section 215 came to the unanimous decision to name a different winner and loser in as many weeks. Without any further ado, let’s get right into it and name the loser of the past week.

Contrary to popular belief, Mike Schmidt was not the Philadelphia Sports loser of the week. The loser, however, is none other than Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher, Jerad Eickhoff. Eickhoff took the mound on Wednesday night looking for his first win of the season. Prior to that start, the Phillies were winners of four straight. It appeared like things were finally clicking for them. Aaron Nola threw like the pitcher we knew he could be, the bats were alive, they were a fun team to watch for a week.

Then Wednesday night happened. Jerad Eickhoff threw five innings, allowed four hits, four runs (three earned), and struck out five. He did all of this on 68 pitches. This is not starting pitching material. He has shown flashes in the past that he can be a solid, middle rotation pitcher, but this season he can’t seem to find a groove. Wednesday’s loss drops his 2017 record to 0-7 with an ERA of 5.15

Obviously, we want the best for our young pitcher, but what else is there to do? Before the road trip, Pete Mackanin and Bob McClure called Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff into a meeting. When questioned about it Mackanin said, “I just wanted to pose them a challenge to say you’re better than this. We know you’re better than this. Start doing it.” Nola took the challenge and pitched eight full innings, allowing one run in a 3-1 win on Tuesday. Eickhoff, well you know what happened.

The only resolution I have would be to send him to the minors to get his confidence back. For now, however, Jerad Eickhoff is the Philadelphia Sports loser of the week.

More from Section 215

We ran into a bit of a conundrum when deciding the winner of the week. With so many possibilities we decided to crown the Philadelphia Phillies starting outfield the winner of the week. To be specific the players are Aaron Altherr, Howie Kendrick and Odubel “O’Double” Herrera.

Let’s start with Aaron Altherr’s stats for the past week. Altherr is slashing .250/.294/.438/.732 in the last seven days. He has one homerun and three RBIs to boot. Not mind blowing numbers, but pretty good for a week’s sample size. Aaron Altherr has been impressive this season, he is making a case to be a cornerstone of this team.

Next, we look at Howie Kendrick. Kendrick is slashing .333/.368/.556/.924 in the last seven days. He has one double, one homerun, and two RBIs as well. Kendrick is proving to be a key piece of this lineup. He is doing exactly what Matt Klentak wants him to do, have a good season so he can be flipped to a contender at the deadline.

Finally, we look to none other than “El Torito” himself, Odubel Herrera. Herrera is the first Phillie since 1913 to have two doubles in three straight games. He played himself out of a slump, slashing an impressive .550/.571/1.000/1.871 over the past seven days. He added nine doubles, two home runs, and nine RBIs. This guy is something special, man

Low key, the most impressive part of the outfield? They’ve been playing so well lately that Michael Saunders, their 9 million dollar addition is on the bench because the rest of the outfield is too hot. On top of that, Nick Williams (you remember him, right?) is lighting up AAA ball right now. Generally, this would be the time to call the youngster up, but there’s simply no room on the roster for him. Once Kendrick is gone he should be able to find his way to the show.

Odubel Herrera was undoubtedly the most impressive athlete in Philadelphia, however, we felt it was necessary to acknowledge the entire starting outfield. It’s not often we can praise an entire unit on this team.

Next: Philadelphia Flyers: New coach should strengthen Power Play

There you have it! This week’s big loser is Jerad Eickhoff and the winner is the Philadelphia Phillies outfield (Herrera, Altherr, and Kendrick). Let us know throughout the week on twitter who you think should be next weeks winner and loser of the week.

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