Marcus Semien

I probably don't need to explain why I select someone as handsome as this:

Still, Marcus Semien had some good stats to go with his good looks last week. 

Semien had 9 hits in 20 at-bats last week giving him a .450 batting average. He scored 9 runs, hit 2 home runs, had 8 RBI and 2 stolen bases.

For the Texas Rangers, Semien's performance has been a big part of why the team now leads the American League West. For me, it means lots of close-up pics of him getting high-fives from his teammates.

Congratulations, Marcus Semien! 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. 

Drew Rasmussen

Drew Rasmussen had, hands down, the best starting week of any pitcher in Major League Baseball. 

On April 3rd, Rasmussen threw 6.0 scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals. He gave up just 2 singles, struck out 7 batters and had 0 walks. 50 of the 66 pitches he threw were strikes. His win meant the Tampa Bay started the season 4-0. The Rays have never before won their first 4 games in their 25 year history.

Rasmussen took to the mound again on April 6th and threw 7.0 more scoreless innings. This time, he gave up only 1 hit, struck out 8 batters, and, again, had 0 walks. His second win was the Rays' 9th straight win--the best start to a season for any team in 20 years.

Rasmussen ended the week with a 0.00 ERA and a miniscule 0.23 WHIP. I think the most impressive stat is that he didn't give up a single base on balls in 13 full innings.

Congratulations, Drew Rasmussen! You are my MLBoyfreind of the week. My only regret is not selecting you sometime last season when your stats might not have been as great, but your beard was much, much better.

Last 7: 13 IP, 3 H, 15 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA, 0.23 WHIP

DATE	OPP	IP	H	ER	BB	K	HR	DEC	ERA	WHIP
4/9	Oak	7.0	1	0	0	8	0	W	0.00	0.14
4/3	@Wsh	6.0	2	0	0	7	0	W	0.00	0.33

Liam Hendriks

I'm starting off 2023 with an unconventional pick. It's not that Liam Hendriks isn't a very good player--he's one of the best closing pitchers in the game. He's also really fun to watch because he's very passionate and animated on the mound. One of the highlights of the 2022 All-Star Game was when Hendriks was "Mic'd Up" although I'm guessing the network wished they had muted him.

Hendriks is a favorite of LGBTQ+ baseball fans for his very vocal allyship. That was a big part of why he won the MLBoyfriend title last year during Pride Month. 

So, Hendriks seems like a natural choice to be the first MLBoyfriend of 2023. Except he didn't pitch at all during the opening week for the worst reason. In January, Hendriks announced that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and would be starting treatment. 

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Being the beast that he is, Hendriks managed to show up for spring training while he was undergoing his cancer treatments. The good news is that Hendriks has started his last round of chemotherapy today.

A special message from Liam Hendriks: pic.twitter.com/kSE1bjBkZD

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 3, 2023

Another encouraging sign is that the White Sox have placed Hendriks on the 15-day IL rather than the 60-day IL. While it doesn't seem likely he'll be back on the mound in two weeks, it sure would be great to see him pitching in May. In the meantime, you can help Liam and his wife Kristi raise funds for the Lymphoma Research Foundation by clicking here and buying one of his "Close Out Cancer" shirts--I just got one for myself.

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Congratulations to Liam Hendriks! You are my first MLBoyfriend of 2023 because what you're doing off the field is much more important that anything that happened on the field this week. That said, I can't wait to see you pitching again.

Rhys Hoskins

Last week, I talked about how much fun watching Bryce Harper in the playoffs has been. Turns out, his teammate, Rhys Hoskins is also a blast.

Harper and Hoskins have both been playing very well in the postseason and were key to the Phllies winning the National League Pennant. At times, Hoskins may have gotten a little cocky.

However, he has every right to celebrate when he's hitting clutch home runs like these two:

And this one:

So, go ahead and flip or slam your bat, Rhys. You earned it.

Congratulations, Rhys Hoskins! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. You probably would have won the title anyway, but it doesn't hurt that your #17, and 17 is my favorite prime number.

PS: Thanks to my friend and hardcore Phillies fan Josh for nominating Rhys Hoskins. I'm very happy for him that his boys are going to the World Series.

Bryce Harper

I hadn't really watched a Phillies game during the regular season. I managed to catch some of their postseason play, and it reminded me of a couple things about Bryce Harper: 1. he's very good at baseball, and 2. he's super fun to watch.

Harper is having a great run in the two series the Phillies have played and won this postseason. He has a .435 batting average and 1.437 OPS with 3 doubles, 3 home runs and 6 RBI in just six games. MLB was kind enough to put together a reel of Harper's highlights in the NLDS

Seeing him play last week also reminded me that, somehow, Harper manages to be extremely cocky....

...and a total goofball--often at the same time.

It just so happens that cocky and goofy are two traits I really appreciate in a baseball player. Harper also has other attributes that I like to see--as evidenced by his many appearances on this blog.

Speaking of Harper's assets, I would like to thank the person at Topps who is responsible for this card celebrating his performance in the NLDS.

Congratulations, Bryce Harper! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Also, HAPPY (one-day-belated) BIRTHDAY! It's nice to celebrate a fellow October baby during Libra Season.

Aaron Judge

Anyone who has been paying attention could have seen this one coming. Even though one round of the playoffs is already over, this is the last MLBoyfriend of the regular season. Aaron Judge is baseball's biggest star and he ended an amazing season with a great week.

On October 4th, Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season setting the record for the American League. (Fun fact: Roger Maris's record of 61 home runs in a season stood for 61 years.)

I have featured Judge many times before--including just two months ago--but there was no way I was going to let this milestone pass unrewarded.

Also, it's always nice to have an excuse to post pics of this handsome face.

Congratulations, Aaron Judge! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week!