Week 8: Buster Posey

When I started this blog, there were some players I knew would show up on it as soon as they gave me any reason to name them my MLBoyfriend, and this week's pick is one of those players. On Sunday, May 29, Buster Posey gave me an excellent reason to give him the honor: he hit two three-run home runs giving the Giants a victory over the Rockies.

If it hadn't been this week, Posey would have been my MLBoyfriend before the summer was done because he is one of my favorite players. First, his name just seems like old-timey baseball to me. You can imagine coming over the wireless: "Buster Posey knocks one out of the park!" Second, he's a catcher which means he wears the best equipment in professional sports.

Third, BUSTER HUGS!

Week 7: Jackie Bradley, Jr.

I take it as a sign of my maturity that I can pay honor to a player on my most hated MLB team. Not so long ago, I never would have considered a member of the Red Sox as a possible MLBoyfriend. Last week, Jackie Bradley, Jr. continued his hot streak and put up some very impressive numbers earning the title of my MLBoyfriend despite playing for Boston.

From April 24 to May 22, Bradley has had hits in 27 straight games including nine multi-hit games: five were two-hit games, and four were three hit games. Last week, he had an amazing .438 average and 1.515 OPS with two home runs.

Bradley's teammate, David Ortiz, has rightfully been getting a lot of attention for his great performance at the plate the past few weeks. However, even some die-hard Red Sox fans recognize the Bradley may be more valuable to the team. Today, boston.com's "Red Sox Player Power Rankings" for last week named Bradley the #1 player noting: "Right now... he's got a better batting average than Manny Machado, a better on-base percentage than Mike Trout, and a better slugging percentage than Bryce Harper."

Week 6: Max Scherzer

On May 11, Max Scherzer threw 20 strikeouts in a game. In doing so, he tied with Kerry Wood, the odious Randy Johnson, and the even-more-hateful Roger Clemens for the most strikeouts thrown in nine innings and earned the title of my MLBoyfriend of the week.

While in some ways, Scherzer did worse than his 20K peers, he did it with relatively few pitches (119)--so 81% of what he threw were strikes. That's insane.

I'm always happy when a pitcher pulls off a great feat because it leads to my favorite thing in sports photography, the pitcher-and-catcher hug picture. This one of Scherzer and Wilson Ramos did not disappoint.

Week 5: Robinson Canó

Last week, an old flame was on fire. Robinson Canó had an amazing .561 batting average and 1.516 OPS earning him the titles of American League Player of the Week and my MLBoyfriend. 

This week was no fluke either. Canó has had an excellent start to the season including leading the American League in RBIs (as of May 7th). There is already some (admittedly wildly early) speculation on him being this year's AL MVP.

It's always fun to see a long-time favorite player having a killer run. Although, I must admit that I miss seeing Canó in Yankees' pinstripes. I also loved that he wore #24 in honor of #42, the number of the man he was named after, the great Jackie Robinson.

Week 4: Michael Conforto

On Saturday, I was looking to bring some much needed hitting to my beleaguered fantasy team, when a hot, young Met caught my eye. Michael Conforto had a great week last week--batting .440 with a OPS of 1.342--and it's not his fault that I stupidly did not bring him onto my team earlier.

Conforto's swing has been called one of MLB's "most aesthetically pleasing," and it may make him a record-setter whose ceiling is the sky.

I thought you might like a better view of his... swing.