Week 7: James Paxton

James Paxton had a very good week on the mound last week. In two quality starts, he pitched fifteen innings, had a 1.80 ERA, a 0.60 WHIP, and had one win. Those stats are almost, but not quite, as good as the week Paxton won the MLBoyfriend title last year. However, he earned the repeat win because on Tuesday, May 8, Paxton threw a no-hitter.

I should note that throwing a no-hitter is not enough to win the title of my MLBoyfriend. Especially this season when we're on track to see quite a few no-hitters. There had already been two before Paxton's last week. Fun fact: The first three no-hitters of 2018 have been in three different countries--the United States, Mexico and Canada. Paxton's no-no caught my attention for two reasons.

1. He is on my fantasy baseball team, The Lake Washington Gillygoofangs. So, I was very happy with his contribution to the pitching stats. (It's not his fault that the week wound up being pretty mediocre for the team.)
2. He was the one that threw his no-hitter in Canada--and he's from British Columbia. Friends of this blog may remember that I have a soft spot for Canada and Canadian players.  Paxton's nickname, The Big Maple, is almost enough to make him my MLBoyfriend all by itself.

To be honest, Paxton was bound to be my MLBoyfriend at some point this season. I've just been looking for an excuse to post this video of him from the opening ceremony at the Twins' first home game. I was actually at Target Field when this happened--and was amazed at how calm Paxton was. He is one cool customer.



Congratulations, James Paxton! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. I see that you have also been named the Co-American League Player of the Week (shouldn't that be "American Leauge Co-Player-of-the-Week?). However, you don't have share the MLBoyfriend title with anyone, so I'm sure it means much more to you.