Special All-Star Break Edition

Welcome to the first All-Star MLBoyfriend Tournament.

This year, I'll be picking my  All-Star MLBoyfriend from the Home Run Derby participants. There are three reasons for this. First, I saw a lot more of the Home Run Derby than I did the actual All-Star game, so I can make a better informed choice. Second, there's a more manageable pool to select from. Finally, MLB nicely created this very handy bracket for me to use.

Week 15: Andrew Heaney

Andrew Heaney showed what he's made of with just one pitch last week. This isn't about athletic ability although he certainly has plenty of that. What Heaney displayed was pure heart.

Heaney's teammate, fellow pitcher and friend, Tyler Skaggs died on Monday, July 1st. Heaney pitched for the first time after that on Saturday, July 6th. His first pitch was a slow curveball, Skaggs's signature pitch.



Prior to the pitch, Heaney had written "45", the number Skaggs wore, on the mound.

Week 14: Joey Votto

HAPPY CANADA DAY! I'm so happy my favorite Canadian player, Joey Votto, is on a hot streak, so I can name him my MLBoyfriend. Last week, Votto had four runs, one home run, and two RBIs. He had a .368 average and .955 OPS. He even had a stolen base--his second of the season.

Votto's biggest night of the week came on Friday, June 28. He had four hits in the Reds' victory over the Cubs--and one of those hits was the 1,800th of his career.

Joey Votto singles in a run for career hit No. 1,800! The @Reds veteran's bat is scorching 🔥

Don't miss Cincinnati baseball on FSO & FOX Sports GO: https://t.co/MoMgktwwsD pic.twitter.com/HiALtT5w3X

— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) June 29, 2019

Best of all, Joey Votto did all this while continuing to be what the kids today call a "zaddy".

Week 13: Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka came out of the gate strong last week. On Monday, June 17, he pitched a complete game and shut out the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankee pitcher became the front runner to become my MLBoyfriend.



Tanaka's stats for that game are obviously really good: In 9.0 innings pitched he gave up two hits and one base on balls while striking out ten for a 0.88 WHIP. Of course, since it was a shut out, he had a 0.00 ERA and was given both the win and a quality start.

So, Tanaka pretty much had the MLBoyfriend title in the bag, Then, on Saturday, June 22, he threw another quality start.

Week 12: Charlie Blackmon

I don't just automatically hand out the MLBoyfriend title to the best batter of the week. However, Charlie Blackmon was the best hitter in the MLB last week by a country mile. 

Blackmon's stats for last week are pretty unreal. He went 21 for 37 for a .568 average and 1.784 OPS. He had 12 runs, 6 home runs, and 15 RBIs. Blackmon's nearest competition, Ketel Marte of the Arizona Cardinals, had almost as many runs (11) and home runs (5) but only 6 RBIs, and while his average was a very impressive .448, that's still over 100 points below Blackmon's.

It was a foregone conclusion that Blackmon would be named the NL Player of the Week--and he was. However, before I crown him my MLBoyfriend, we must address the elephant in the room--or should I say the woolly mammoth?

Week 11: Cole Hamels or Max Scherzer?

I realized I have been neglecting pitchers this year. We're a third of the way through the season, and I've only chosen one pitcher as my MLBoyfriend so far. So, I had my eyes peeled for a hurler who could win my heart.

On Friday, June 7, Cole Hamels threw a great game for the Cubs. He pitched 8 innings giving up just two hits, one base on balls and no earned runs. Hamels ended with game with 10 strikeouts, a 0.50 WHIP, a 0.00 ERA, a quality start and a win.



It seemed Hamels would win the MLBoyfriend title again after a two years since he was lasted named.

Then, the very next day, Saturday, June 8, Max Scherzer threw a heck of a game.

Scherzer went scored a win and a quality start by going 7 complete innings for the Nationals with 1 base on balls, 6 hits, 9 strikeouts, and zero earned runs. That gave him a 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP for the game.



Now, the stat heads out there have certainly noticed that Hamels stats are little better than Scherzer's. You might think that would earn Hamels the title. However, we know that my MLBoyfriend is not just about stats.

Week 10: Trevor Story

Since the American League Player of the Week was my MLBoyfriend last week, it seems only fair that the National League  Player of the Week win the honor this week. Welcome back, Trevor Story. It's always nice to see the first ever MLBoyfriend back on the blog.

Last week, Story went 11 for 21 at the plate giving him an amazing .524 batting average. He had a 1.631 OPS, 9 runs,7 RBIs, 2 home runs, and 2 stolen bases.

Story had a monster night on Friday, May 31--he hit both of his home runs and had all seven of his RBIs in that one game.