Max Muncy

I've been waiting for Max Muncy to have an MLBoyfriend worthy week because he has one of the best stories of the season. More one that later... Let's start with last week.

Muncy started the week very strong. On Saturday, June 22nd, he hit two home runs and had 7 RBI. Three days later, he homered twice again and had 6 RBI.

By the end of the week, Muncy had a .417 batting average and 1.420 OPS. He hit 2 doubles and (the aforementioned) 4 home runs. He scored 9 runs and batted in 17.

Here's what's fantastic about Muncy's season: It started out really bad--awful, actually. In March and April his batting average was a miserable .194 and his OPS was a slightly more respectable, but still not good, 0.610. On April 29th, things were looking bad. Then, on April 30th, he hit his first home run of the season.

April 30th just so happens to be the day Max started wearing glasses while playing due to an astigmatism. In May, his batting average was a respectable .250 and his OPS was an equally respectable .851, and he hit 5 home runs. His numbers went up again in June to a .333 batting average, 1.113 OPS with 7 home runs. Muncy isn't willing to credit the glasses with all that improvement, but he says it's "hard to deny" that they are a major factor.

It doesn't hurt that Max Muncy is on trend and looking good during this Summer of Slutty Little Glasses.

Congratulations, Max Muncy! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Cal Raleigh

Cal Raleigh has been on my radar for pretty much the entire season. He has had several very good weeks, but this was probably his best yet.

Last week, Raleigh went 10 for 24 at the plate for a .417 batting average. He had a 1.606 OPS with 2 doubles and 5 home runs. Along the way, he scored 10 runs and batted in 12. Oh yeah,he also stole a base twice.

Here are a few milestones Raleigh achieved in this week:

• He has the most home runs (32) of any player this season;

• He has the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break in MLB history--and the All-Star break is 3 weeks away; and

• He has the most home runs by a switch-hitter before the All-Star break in MLB history (see above).

It's no surprise that Raleigh was named the American League Player of the Week, or that that there is serious discussion of him being named the AL MVP this year. All of that would be more than enough for Raleigh to win the MLBoyfriend title. The cherry on top of the cake (and I do mean cake, not sundae) is that his nickname is the Big Dumper. How he got that sobriquet is no mystery.

Congratulations, Cal Raleigh! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Kiké Hernández

The last time Kiké Hernández won the MLBoyfriend title, it was not because of his performance on this field but because of his flirtatious social media posts. 

This week, Hernández won the title with the worst batting stats an MLBoyfriend has ever had. In 10 at-bats, he had a 0.00 batting average--literally the worst possible. 

Hernández also stepped in as a relief pitcher last week, but the less said about that, the better.

Social media is again reason Kiké won the title this week. However, this time it's not because he was being silly and sexy. Instead, he was serious when he spoke about about the terrible impact ICE raids are having on Los Angeles. (Be sure to scroll through and read his message.)

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Congratulations, Kiké Hernández! You are my MLBoyfiend of the week.

Ketel Marte

How is it possible that Ketel Marte has never been named MLBoyfriend before today? He's been a very good player all nine years this blog has existed.

Marte also has some of the best hair in baseball.

Better late than never, I guess. Marte has finally won the honor he so deserves.

Last week, Marte had a .400 batting average and 1.538 OPS. 4 of his 8 hits were home runs. He scored 6 runs and batted in 8.

Congratulations, Ketel Marte! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.

Christian Yelich

Christian Yelich is one of perhaps a dozen players that I'm always hoping has a good week, so I have a reason to name him my MLBoyfriend. He has won the title twice, but the last time was in 2019--more on that later.

Yelich had two great games last week. On Tuesday, May 27, he hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning. I was a little surprised to learn that it was the first walk-off home run of his career--I guess he was waiting until he could go really big.

Then, on Friday, May 30, Yelich went 3 for 5 including 2 home runs. He scored 2 runs that game and batted in 4. 

Yelich ended the week with a .500 batting average, 1.545 OPS, 5 runs, 3 home runs, 9 RBI and 1 stolen base. Those numbers were impressive enough to earn him the National League Player of the Week title. They also happen to be better than the last time he won the MLBoyfriend title; however, in 2019, Yelich won extra points by modeling in ESPN Magazine's dearly departed Body Issue.

Congratulations, Christian Yelich! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.