Week 21: Gary Sanchez

I'm a lifelong Yankees fan, so it's surprising that it's taken me this long to chose a Yankee as my MLBoyfriend. Well, the right guy finally came along. Gary Sanchez was called up by the Yankees on August 2, and now, he's leading their quest for a wild card slot.

Last week, Sanchez was on fire at the plate batting over 500--to be exact, in 23 appearences, his average was .522. He had a 1.911 OPS, the highest in the MLB for the week. This all brought a lot of scoring for the Yankees--five home runs, seven runs scored, and nine runs batted in.

That kind of power is rare enough, but a catcher who can hit like that is a real treasure in baseball. The Yankees saw the potential in Sanchez to be that extra special catcher when he was just fifteen.

Sanchez not only gets to wear the Yankees Pinstripes--the best sports uniform ever--he also gets all the cool catcher's gear. IMHO, that is a killer combination.

Week 20: Kris Bryant

The Chicago Cubs are having an amazing season, so it's a bit surprising that, until today, no Cubbie has been my MLBoyfriend. This is almost as bad as the Cubs' famous World Series drought. Just as he might well help the his team break the Curse of the Billy Goat, Kris Bryant is finally bringing the title of my MLBoyfriend back to Wrigley Field today.

Kris Bryant is certainly the leading contender to be the National League MVP this year and has some impressive stats for the season. Even in the midst of a great year, last week stood out. From August 15th to 21st, he had an incredible .483 batting average with a 1.359 OPS and three home runs. He batted in eleven runs and scored nine himself. Those stats are largely due to the incredible game Bryant had on August 18th: he went five for five at the plate with two home runs, four runs and five RBIs.

In addition to being a great baseball player, Kris Bryant is ever so dreamy.

Week 19: Yu Darvish

Yu Darvish has been very impressive in his last two starts with a combined ERA of 1.32 and WHIP of just 0.80. He only gave up one walk in 13.2 innings. Not surprisingly, both outings were scored as quality starts and he was awarded the win in August 12th game against the Detroit Tigers. Yes, the better of those two games--in which he pitched seven shut-out innings with no walks against the Houston Astros on August 7th--was technically in Week 18 and should have put him in consideration for my MLBoyfriend last time, but this is my blog and I can make or break the rules as I choose. So, congratulations to Yu Darvish, my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Darvish has always been a strike-out pitcher. This amazing GIF of five of his pitches against Albert Pujols (no slouch of a hitter) superimposed over each other shows his control and consistency.

However, that is from 2013, and Tommy John surgery took Darvish out of the game all last season. He has come back this season as good or maybe even better than before.

Week 18: Joe Mauer

The Minnesota Twins apparently decided August was when they would finally show up and play some good baseball. They had five wins and only two losses last week and took a series against the top team in the American League Central, Cleveland, three to one. During this mini-hot streak, the Twins' offense has been lead by Max Kepler, Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer. Since the Twinkies will always have a special place in my heart, it makes sense to honor one of them this week. I presciently named Kepler my MLBoyfriend a month ago; however, despite his terrific performance last week including hitting three home runs in one game, I'm not ready to make him the first player to win the title twice. I have a completely irrational dislike of Brian Dozier--don't ask me to explain it because I can't--so he is out of the running. That makes Joe Mauer the obvious choice for my MLBoyfriend this week. I can't say I'm mad about that.

Mauer had a great week with 14 hits in 25 at bats including one home run. For a guy not generally known as a power hitter, he had an impressively high OPS of 1.663. Mauer scored 8 runs in those seven days and batted in 9.

As a hometown boy, Joe Mauer is the representative of the Twin Cities franchise. He even showed that the Twins run in his blood in fathering twin daughters.

Week 17: Aaron Sanchez

Aaron Sanchez pitched two great games for the Toronto Blue Jays last week. First, on Monday, July 25th, he went for seven full inning with an 0.00 ERA giving up only three hits and two walks (0.71 WHIP) and was awarded the win for the game. He had another quality start, on Sunday, July 31st, going another seven inning and giving up only four hits, two walks and two runs with a still respectable ERA of 2.57 and WHIP of 0.86. Unfortunately for Sanchez, the Jays' bullpen lost the game for him. Still, he ended the week with two quality starts, one win, a very impressive 1.29 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and most importantly, the title of my MLBoyfriend.

Ironically, this amazing week will be Sanchez's last as a starting pitcher this season. He is being moved to the bullpen in an effort to protect his arm for the future. The move is was inevitable and probably for the best, but it's still a big bummer in the middle of a season in which he is getting buzz as a possible Cy Young winner. 

Speaking of his arm, it seems to become much longer as he pitches.