Week 3: Bryce Harper

There are many reasons Bryce Harper won the title of my MLBoyfriend in the third week of play. Three of them are home runs. On Wednesday, April 19, he hit two against Atlanta's ace pitcher Julio Teheran. The second of those was a grand slam. Then, on Friday, April 21, Harper hit a dinger off a pitch by Matt Harvey of the Mets--a pitcher Harper had had 30 at bats against with only hit and zero home runs to show for it.

It wasn't just home runs. Harper was hitting everything last week. His batting average was an insane .550 and an OPS of 1.867. He scored ten runs, the most of any player last week, and had seven RBIs. Of course the center piece of this week was the aforementioned two-home-run game against Atlanta. Harper went four for four in that game making it possibly the best game of his career. (He also played some very good defense in that game.) Being Bryce Harper, he also managed to look pretty good doing all that base running.

Of course, no Bryce Harper post would be complete without a picture of one of his famous celebratory hair flips. Fortunately, there's an excellent one from last week.

Week 2: James Paxton

Given the number of outstanding pitching performances last week, it was clear a pitcher would be named my #MLBoyfriend today. There were a number of excellent candidates with not just one but two wins in the last seven days: Wily Peralta of Milwaukee Brewers is now 3-0 for the season after getting two wins last week; Colorado Rockies' rookie Antonio Senzatela's second win completed a sweep of the San Francisco Giants; Detroit Tiger Matthew Boyd gave up only one earned run in twelve innings over two outings; and Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees is finally "starting to realize his potential" with two impressive wins. Above all these great aces, one stood out, so...

Congratulations to James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners. You are my new MLBoyfriend.

On Monday, April 10th, Paxton dominated the Houston Astros in the Mariners' home opener. He went seven innings throwing eight strikeouts and giving up just four hits, two walks and no runs.

Then, on Saturday, April 15th, Paxton had an even more impressive outing against the Texas Rangers. He pitched eight full innings with nine strikeouts, and just two hits and one walk. Again he gave up no runs.

That's right, over fifteen innings in the second week of play, James Paxton had two quality starts, two wins, a phenomenally low WHIP of 0.60, and a 0.00 ERA--it doesn't get much better than that. Oh wait it does get better, because if we count Paxton's outing in the first week of play, his ERA is still 0.00. He's thrown three shut-outs in his first three appearances of the season.

Week 1: Miguel Sano

In a lifetime of going to the ballpark, I had never see a baseball game on opening day of the season. That changed this year when I went to Target Field on April 3rd to see the Minnesota Twins play the Kansas City Royals.

In that very first game, Miguel Sano took the lead in the competition to become my first MLBoyfriend of 2017 when he hit a solo home run that put the Twins on the board.

Seeing a home run in person is always exciting--but a home run for my hometown team on opening day is probably the best path into my heart. Just that dinger might have been enough to clinch the title, but Sano went on to have a great week with a .350 batting average, 1.308 OPS, 7 runs, 8 RBIs, and 2 home runs--the first on opening day and then a two-run homer on the last day of the week.

It's a long season--and it's a marathon, not a sprint--but, everyone's surprise, the Twins are off to a great start with five wins and just one loss at the end of the first week putting them on top of the American League's Central Division. Miguel Sano's performance at the plate has been a big part of the Twin's great start out of the blocks.

2017 Opening Day!

The 2017 Major League Baseball season has finally begun. 

Check out this space every Monday when I announce my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Also, this year I'd love to expand this blog. If anyone wants to make a guest post, please contact me. I'd be happy to host your MLBoyfriend musings and pics here. The criteria for selection:

1. The player should have done something special on the field. It could be a single play or a solid performance over a stretch of time.
2. Please do a quick Google search and make sure the player doesn't have any problematic issues. Domestic violence and sexual assault are automatic disqualifiers.
3. Of course it doesn't hurt if they are easy on the eyes.

Speaking of a great player who always provides good pictures to post... Let's check in on what the only two-time winner of the MLBoyfriend title, Josh Donaldson, has been up to on Instagram (@tos_bor20) this spring. (Be sure to click on the first post to watch the video.)

If you don't know this feeling, then you are missing out. #MLB @bluejays

A post shared by Josh Donaldson (@tos_bor20) on Mar 8, 2017 at 1:10pm PST

Spring training game✅ @neweracap photo shoot ✅ Who is ready for opening day? It's about that time!!☔️☔️

A post shared by Josh Donaldson (@tos_bor20) on Mar 22, 2017 at 4:00pm PDT

Eyes on the prize, so the vision doesn't get blurry. #MLB #Openingday

A post shared by Josh Donaldson (@tos_bor20) on Apr 2, 2017 at 6:55pm PDT

I'm not sure I'm sold on Josh's blond dye job. Lucky for him, while a player's hair is considered in my deliberations, it is not a determining factor--so Josh Donaldson still has a shot at winning the MLBoyfriend title in 2017.

And now, it's up to the players to impress me. PLAY BALL!