This week’s New Era player of the week is a familiar face to the people of Demopolis. Demopolis native and professional baseball player Andy Phillips takes this week’s honor. The former Demopolis Academy star has grown hotter along with the summer months. This past week was one of Phillips best with the Chicago White Sox Triple A affiliate Charlotte Knights as he had a .444 hitting average with one home run and four runs scored to earn himself the nod as our player of the week.

Phillips started the year off by signing a contract with Pittsburg Pirates. However, after suffering a back injury, he was forced to miss a lot of spring training and was placed on the Pirates’ Triple A affiliate Indianapolis Indians.

Once recovered, has was hitting .333 in the seven games he played with the Indians.

After being traded, Phillips has kept up his white hot hitting while adding a little power to his swing. With the Knights, Phillips is hitting a whopping .320 average with five home runs and 25 RBI in his 38 games with the Knights.

His impressive bat has helped him solidify himself as the top first baseman in the White Sox’s minor league system and with ESPN’s No. 36 overall prospect, Gordon Beckham, recently joining the team to protect his bat, Phillips may just be starting an upward trend.

Phillips has been up and down from the majors in his time as a professional, but if Andy keeps on this pace, he could be only an injury away from being called up to “The Show” one more time with the White Sox.