Ethan Salas

Ethan Salas  just got called up from the minors this month—he played his first Major League game on September 2nd. He put up good numbers last week. He had a .250 batting average, 1.058 OPS (okay, that one is better than just good) with 3 runs, 2 home runs, and 4 RBIs. Those are fine, but not nearly as good as the usual MLBoyfriend winner.

So, how did he win the MLBoyfriend title? Well, there are 3 reasons.

First, on Wednesday, September 16th, he not only hit his first MLB home run, he also hit his second one. For those who love very particular stats, at 20 years and 107 days old, he became the youngest catcher ever to hit 2 homers in one game.

Salas hit his first hit in Petco Park, his new home field, on Saturday, September 19th. Kind of amazingly, it was a walk-off single.

This, of course, created another piece of arcane baseball trivia:

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We have Salas's teammates to thank for the third, final and most important reason he is the MLBoyfriend of the week. After his walk-off hit, they stripped him of his jersey and he celebrated his achievement shirtless.

Congratulations, Ethan Salas! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Jackson Churio & Garrett Mitchell

To celebrate the Milwaukee Brewers being the first National League team to clinch a playoff spot, I have chosen two of their players as my MLBoyfriends this week. (The Tampa Rays clinched before the Brewers, but I much prefer the Brew Crew to the Rays.)

Jackson Churio wins his second MLBoyfriend award of the season.

Churio had a .481 batting average and 1.332 with 3 doubles and 2 home runs. He scored 9 runs and batted in 8. He also had 2 stolen bases.

Garrett Mitchell hit the Brewers' first grand slam of the season in the game that secured the team's playoff spot. He ended the week with 2 home runs, 7 runs, 9 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He had a .381 average and 1.149 OPS.

 

Congratulations, Jackson Churio! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Congratulations, Garrett Mitchell! You are also my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Rafael Devers

Rafael Devers wins the MLBoyfriend title this week for two reasons.

First, Devers put up some very good stats last week. He scored 8 runs and had a .385 batting average and 1.669 OPS. He had the most home runs in Major League Baseball with 6 and the most RBIs with 13.

Second, Devers gives Cal Raleigh a run for his money for the Big Dumper title.

Congratulations, Rafael Devers! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Cal Quantrill

Holy cow! It's late August, and I've only had one pitcher win the MLBoyfriend title this season--and pitching was only half of why Shohei Ohtani won in April. Cal Quantrill's 13 shut-out innings last week finally got a pitcher the title.

On Tuesday, August 18, Quantrill pitched 7 full innings giving up just 4 hits, 0 walks, and 0 earned runs. Then, in 6 full innings on Sunday, August 23, he gave up 6 hits, 0 walks (again!), and 0 earned runs. He ended the week with 2 wins, a 0.77 WHIP and 0.00 ERA.

Finally, Cal gets bonus points for being Canadian.

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

Joshua Báez

Joshua Báez made a truly historic Major League debut on Saturday, August 15th. Baseball is famous, some might say infamous, for obscure statistics and records. I, myself, have sometimes awarded the MLBoyfriend title based on achievements that only a baseball nerd would really appreciate. What Báez did, however, any baseball fan--no matter how new or casual--can understand.

Báez hit 3 home runs in his first MLB game! No one has done that in the long, long history of Major League Baseball. And, as if that weren't enough, the 3 home runs came in his first 3 at-bats. Maybe most impressive of all, the first home run was on the first pitch he ever faced.

Báez only played in 2 games last week, so his number don't really have that much statistical meaning. Still, it's worth pointing out that he scored 4 runs and batted in 5--all from the 3 homers he hit in his first game. His .333 batting average and 1.733 OPS are also impressive given he went 0-for-5 in his second game.

Congratulations, Joshua Báez! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.

Twins Go Bananas

Banana Ball took over Target Field this weekend. I was a little sad that I wasn't able to attend a game going into the weekend. I was even sadder when I saw how many of my favorite former Twins showed up. It pretty much took over my Instagram feed over the weekend.

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The first (and only) inductee into The MLBoyfriend Hall of Fame, Joe Mauer threw out the first pitch.

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Brian Dozier, another past MLBoyfriend also showed up. Unfortunately, he struck out, but the fans still loved him.

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Trevor May fared much better, pitching a 1-2-3 inning. I was surprised that May had never been an MLBoyfriend since he had several good years with the Twins--but very few relief pitchers have won the award. I do recommend his YouTube channel for those interested in a behind-the-scenes look at Major League Baseball.

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Justin Morneau retired just as MLBoyfriend was starting up. The 2006 American League MVP and four-time All-Star certainly would have been an MLBoyfriend if the blog had started earlier.

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Last, but far from least, Tony Oliva made an appearance! Seeing one of my Mom's favorite players walk into the field brought back great childhood memories. The 88 year-old Hall of Famer didn't play, but it looks like he did provide a bit of coaching.

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Baseball purists pooh-pooh Banana Ball, but the final game at Target Field had a pretty exciting ending.

Ceddanne Rafaela

Ceddanne Rafaela won the American League Player of the Week honor today. He had a .419 batting average and 1.387 OPS with 5 home runs. He scored 7 runs and batted in 11.

What's most impressive is that Rafaela racked up a lot of those numbers--including 4 of the home runs--against the Los Angeles Dodgers, arguably the best team in baseball. 

Fun fact: Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela's mother gave him his first middle name (second name?) "Chipper" because she was a fan of Chipper Jones. Here's hoping Ceddanne takes after Chipper in terms of baseball talent but not in political views.

Congratulations, Ceddanne Rafaela! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.