Nick Kurtz

Did Nick Kurtz have the best offensive game in the history of Major League Baseball? Probably.

On Friday, July 25, Kurtz went 6-for-6 at the plate with 4 home runs and 8 RBI! He is the first rookie ever to hit 4 homers in one game.

With a game like that, it's no surprise Kurts put up some great stats. For the week, he had a .600 batting average and 2.043 OPS with 5 doubles and 5 home runs. He scored 9 runs while batting in 11.

Congratulations, Nick Kurtz! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Lawrence Butler

Lawrence Butler was simply dominant at the plate last week. He had 14 hits in 28 at bats for an amazing .500 average.

Those 14 hits included 3 doubles and 6 home runs. Butler ended the week with an incredible 1.722 OPS. Along the way, he scored 8 runs, batted in 10, and had 2 stolen bases.

On Sunday, August 29th, Butler hit 3 home runs in one game.

Congratulations, Lawrencce Butler! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Miguel Andújar

Oakland A's players and fans have been having a pretty rough year. (Long story, short: the Athletics' ownership sucks.) I like to throw them some love whenever possible. That said, Miguel Andújar made it easy for me to pick an Oakland player this week.

Andújar had a .400 batting average and 1.105 OPS last week. He had six runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs and a whopping 10 RBI. He really did his numbers for the week a big favor on Saturday, June 1st, when he went 4-for-5 at the plate with 1 home run, 4 RBI, and 3 runs scored.

As if the numbers weren't enough, Andújar has a couple other things going for him in my book:

1.  The Face 
   
   
   
2. Bubblegum
   

Congratulations, Miguel Andújar! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Brent Rooker

I have a soft spot for good players on not-so-good teams. To say the Oakland A's are off to a bad start would be an understatement. Yet, one of the A's, Brent Rooker had a pretty great week last week.

Rooker had 10 hits in 24 at-bats last week with 4 home runs, 1 double and a whopping 11 RBIs. 

Ironically, Oakland's best slugger got his spot in the line up because another player is injured. Rooker is definitely making the most of his opportunity.

If anyone is looking to fill an outfield position on their fantasy baseball team, take a look at Rooker. With a .417 batting average, .464 OBP and .958 slugging percentage, he was the 3rd best fantasy player last week according to ESPN's "Player Rater"; however, he is on a roster in less than 8% of ESPN fantasy leagues. So, you should be easily able to pick him up.

Congratulations, Brent Rooker! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. 

Week 19: Starling Marte

I'm sure the Oakland A's were very happy to see Starling Marte arrive last week. He had a great for his new team on August 1st.

Then, on August 6th, Marte hit a three-run, walk-off home run.

Finally, yesterday, Marte had a four-hit game.

Marte ended the week with 6 runs, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, 5 stolen bases(!) a 1.326 OPS and an amazing .478 batting average. I'm pretty sure all that adds up to him being Oakland's MLBoyfriend of the week as well as mine.

Congratulations, Starling Marte! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. FWIW: You look great in the new uniform.

Week 26: Bruce Maxwell

Bruce Maxwell is the first and only Major League Baseball player to take a knee during the National Anthem. For the past week, Maxwell has been making a thoughtful, powerful statement for racial justice. I'm going to add to the support he got at home games in Oakland, by making him my final MLBoyfriend of the regular season.

"The point of my kneeling is not to disrespect our military, it's not to disrespect our Constitution, it's not to disrespect this country. ... My hand over my heart symbolizes the fact that I am and I'll forever be an American citizen, and I'm more than grateful to be here. But my kneeling is what is getting the attention because I'm kneeling for the people that don't have a voice." --Bruce Maxell

I'd also like to give a shout out to Maxwell's teammates, especially Mark Canha, for standing behind him both literally and figuratively.

This is point in the post where I usually say "Congratulations" to my new MLBoyfriend, but this week I'm going to do say something else because some things are much more important than baseball stats.

THANK YOU, BRUCE MAXWELL!