Week 16: Kole Calhoun

I have two reasons for selecting Kole Calhoun as my MLBoyfriend. The first is that I love a Cinderella story in baseball. To put it kindly, Calhoun's season so far has been mediocre. His batting average so far is a measly .182. Now suddenly in July, his bat is getting hot.

Calhoun had a really good week last week. On Tuesday, July 10, he went three-for-four, with a home run, two RBIs, and three runs scored. He hit two home runs on Friday, July 13, which meant he alone scored all two runs the Angels scored in that game. He scored the winning run in the tenth inning of the game on Saturday, July 14.

Kole Calhoun makes a leaping catch on Saturday, July 14.

For the week, Calhoun had a .364 average, a 1.355 OPS, six RBIs and seven runs. He has only hit nine home runs all season and four of them were last week. He had a much better week than his superstar teammate (and two-time MLBoyfriend winner), Mike Trout. Last week, Trout had only a .282 average, .730 OPS, three runs, and no RBIs or home runs. 

Mike Trout passes the MLBoyfriend torch to Kole Calhoun.

Week 15: Yasiel Puig

This week's MLBoyfriend, unlike last week's, put up some decent stats. Yasiel Puig had a very good .368 batting average and 1.158 OPS with three runs, two home runs, and eight RBIs. However, the real reason he is being selected is that he was featured in the ESPN Magazine Body Issue.

The Body Issue really is the gift that keeps giving for a blogger who has lots of other things he should be doing. Sure, technically, it came out two weeks ago not last week. But since his teammates have pin-up pics of Puig in the dugout, I figure he's still fair game.

Week 14: Dallas Keuchel

Dallas Keuchel did not have a very good week last week. He started in one game in which he gave up seven hits, six runs, and three walks. Since he only pitched 5.1 innings, that left him with a miserable ERA of 10.13. He's had better weeks--like when the Astros won the World Series last year.

So, why is Keuchel my MLBoyfriend this week? Because I'm on vacation and don't want to spend a lot of time on this post. Fortunately, ESPN has done the work for me by featuring Keuchel in their annual Body Issue.

Honored to be chosen for the 2018 @espn #BodyIssue ...it was a true team effort. Big thanks to the creative eye behind the lens @kurtiswarienko (link in bio)

A post shared by Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy60) on Jun 24, 2018 at 9:14pm PDT

Week 13: Jesús Aguilar

The Brewers are very good at baseball this year. They currently lead the National League Central division. It seemed high time that I pick my first ever MLBoyfriend from Milwaukee. Jesús Aguilar nabbed the prize. He leads the team this season in home runs with sixteen, RBIs with fifty, and OPS with .995--and he has the highest batting average (.299) of any Brewer with more than fifteen at bats in the season. 

Aguilar has an especially good week last week with four runs, three home runs, eight RBIs, a .353 batting average, and a 1.368 OPS. He had an especially big day on Saturday, June 22. He hit two home runs in that game. The first ended a no-hitter in the seventh inning. The second won the game for the Brewers in a walk-off.



Jesús Aguilar is clearly a big part of the Brewers' success. Speaking of big, his official stats list that he's 6'3", 250 lbs., and I think that might be low balling it. After all, two of Aguilar's teammates, Orlando Arcia and Zach Davies, fit inside his pants.

Week 12: Mike Trout

I would like to officially welcome Mike Trout back to MLBoyfriend after far too long an absence. Somewhat shockingly, the only time he has won the title was September 6, 2016. This Angel doesn't need to wait in the wings any longer--because he crushed it last week.

Two of Trout's stats from last week are almost unbelievable: he had a batting average of .684 average and a 2.118 OPS. He also had eight runs, four home runs and seven RBIs. Oh yeah, his fielding wasn't too shabby either.

Here's a Mike Trout highlight reel from one game, the Angels' June 12th game against the Mariners. Many players would be happy to have this be their highlights from a full week of play.



It's no surprise that Trout is had a great week last week. He is having a amazing season so far. This is also no surprise because he has had one of  the most amazing careers in MLB history. Just 26 years old, Trout has been a star player for will player for seven years. and is already on track to break a ton of records. Check out this excellent article/video on "How Mike Trout stacks up to MLB greatests as he closes in on 1,000 games."

Week 11: Paul Goldschmidt

 

It's kind of surprising that I'm well into my third season of MLBoyfriend, and Paul Goldschmidt has never won the title. He is, afterall, a five-time MLB All-Star with a slew of awards. It's probably because he plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks--a team I generally pretend doesn't exist. However, now that the Diamondbacks are leading the National League West and Goldschmidt has been on fire, I guess his time has come.

Last week, Goldschmidt had ten runs, four home runs, and eleven RBIs. His batting average was an amazing .640, and his OPS was an equally amazing 2.130--both are, by fairly wide margins, the highest of all MLB players with more than five at-bats in the week. Yesterday, ESPN sent out this tweet:

Paul Goldschmidt Last 4 Games
2 singles
5 doubles
1 triple
4 home runs

Goldschmidt is the first Diamondbacks player with multiple extra-base hits in 4 straight games.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 10, 2018

This is even more impressive because Goldschmidt had a terrible start to the season. Suddenly in June, he is racking up amazing numbers. 

Whether he's in a slump or on a hot streak, it's always a pleasure to see Goldy on the field.

Week 10: Eddie Rosario

If the citizens of Minnesota got to vote for MLBoyfriend this week, I'm 100% sure that Eddie Rosario would be elected. He had a great week for the Twins last week with a batting average of .433 and a 1.394 OPS. He had six runs, eleven RBIs, and one stolen base.

Rosario is not a known as a huge home-run hitter. Last season, he hit twenty-seven, which means he wasn't even in the top fifty. During the first nine weeks of this season, he hit nine home runs, and he was on that same pace last week with no homers until he hit one on Saturday, June 2. Then, Sunday came...

On Sunday, June 3, Eddie Rosario hit three home runs--including a two-run walk-off--leading Minnesota to beat Cleveland.



Rosario is the first Twin to hit three home runs in two games. He did it last June also at home in Target Field. His parents were there both times. You might be thinking, "That's nice for all of them, but what's the big deal? They've probably been there for a bunch of games where he hit no home runs." Here's what's really wild: This Sunday was the first time Rosario's parents had been in the stands since his first three home-run game.