Week 19: Starling Marte

I'm sure the Oakland A's were very happy to see Starling Marte arrive last week. He had a great for his new team on August 1st.

Then, on August 6th, Marte hit a three-run, walk-off home run.

Finally, yesterday, Marte had a four-hit game.

Marte ended the week with 6 runs, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, 5 stolen bases(!) a 1.326 OPS and an amazing .478 batting average. I'm pretty sure all that adds up to him being Oakland's MLBoyfriend of the week as well as mine.

Congratulations, Starling Marte! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. FWIW: You look great in the new uniform.

Week 18: Bryce Harper

I can't believe it's been over four years since one of the inspirations for this blog, Bryce Harper, was named MLBoyfriend of the week. 

Harper had an excellent week last week going 9 for 17 at the plate for an astonishing .529 average and 1.704 OPS with 3 RBIs and scoring 6 runs. He only hit one home run, but it was a doozy--the first inside the park home run of his career.

Of course, Harper's batting helmet flew off in the process setting his glorious mane free. 

Congratulations, Bryce Harper! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Somewhat surprisingly, you are also the first player for the Philadelphia Phillies to win the honor. Nicely done.

Week 17: Juan Soto

The title of this video, "Soto Is Red-Hot Since HR Derby", is somewhat incorrect, IMHO.

Juan Soto is always red hot. I mean, seriously....

I will agree, however, that he has been red hot at the plate since the All-Star break. Last week, he had an amazing .429 batting average and 1.651 OPS with 4 home runs, 6 runs, 9(!) RBIs and a stolen base.

Congratulations, Juan Soto! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Week 16: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smashed a 468-foot home run and was named MVP at this year's All-Star Game.

Guerrero returned to Toronto and had a monster game. He hit 2 home runs, scored 3 and had 4 RBIs on July 16.

Talk of Guerrero winning the 2021 American League MVP award may be premature, but it's definitely understandable. Being my MLBoyfriend is long past due for Guerrero.

Congratulations, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. I'm guessing this is the cherry on top of the very good week you've had.

Week 15: Trea Turner

It's never a bad week to pick Trea Turner as my MLBoyfriend. The pictures above are Exhibit A of his worthiness. I kind of can't believe it's been almost five years since he won the title. (Well, he was in the doghouse for a little while, but I'm over it.)

Turner's batting stats last week are definitely MLBoyfriend level. He had a .313 average and 0.947 OPS with 3 home runs, 6 runs, and 4 RBIs. He even had one stolen base.

I also think fielding is overlooked in judging baseball players, but Turner made a few great plays last week, like this one.

HOWEVER....

If I'm being honest, Trae Turner is really winning the MLBoyfriend title this week for something he did the week before last week. On July 1st, he hit for the cycle. This is always an amazing feat, but it was made even more special because he became the first MLB player to do it on his birthday. On top of that, this is Turner's third complete cycle--an MLB record shared by only 4 other players.

I really can't believe I missed the entire event when it happened.

Congratulations, Trea Turner! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Better late than never.

PS: Congrats on the hair. I know that it's not the case, but you always seem to be sporting the perfect example of male FFH.

Week 14: Ozzie Albies

Ozzie Albies had an excellent week last week. He had a .400 batting average and 1.167 OPS with 6 runs, 3 home runs and 3 stolen bases.

Most impressively, Albies led MLB in runs batted in with a whopping 13.

It's also worth noting that Albies is the rare baseball player who looks better in street clothes than in uniform in my opinion. 

Congratulations, Ozzie Albies! You are my MLBoyfriend of the weeks. Here's hoping I see you at the All-Star Game.

Week 13: Kyle Schwarber

Anyone paying attention to baseball the past couple of weeks could have seen this one coming a mile away. To say Kyle Schwarber has been on a hot streak at the plate would be an understatement. He has been on fire.

Schwarber hit 9 home runs in just 6 games from June 19-25.

Last week, June 21-27, Schwarber had an insane .400 average with a 1.704 OPS. He hit 7 home runs--for comparison, my entire fantasy team had 10 home runs in the same week--scored 8 runs and had 12 RBIs.

A nice by-product of all this is that there are lots a great pictures of Schwarber rounding the bases.

Congratulations, Kyle Schwarber! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week!

Take a curtain call. You deserve it!

Week 12: Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani is possibly the best designated hitter in the MLB right now. At least the fans seem to think he is. He is handily winning the All-Star voting for the American League DH.

He put up some great numbers last week at the plate. He had a .292 average and 1.287 OPS with 5 home runs, 5 runs, 7 RBIs, and one stolen base.

Ohtani also happens to be one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. He had a solid outing on Thursday, July 17, scoring a win and a quality start. 

He pitched 6.0 innings giving up just one earned runs, one base on balls, and 5 hits.

In short, Ohtani had a very good week and earned the American League Player of the Week award for the third time in his career.

He's also pretty dreamy.

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Clearly, this is more prestigious than MLB Player of the Week--because this is only the second time you've won this title. However, I see the strong chance of more wins in your future.

Week 11: Jacob deGrom

It's well past time to show Jacob deGrom a little love this season. The game he pitched on Friday, June 11, was humdinger. In six innings, he gave up only one hit, walked zero hitters, and struck out ten with no runs scored. He got both a win and a quality start.

That would be an amazing game for any MLB starting pitcher, but for deGrom this season, it's just par for the course. He has pitched 64 innings, and his stats are almost unreal: 

• deGrom has had just 4 earned runs, giving him an incredible 0.56 ERA (not a misprint!). For comparison sake, of all the starters who have pitched more than just 6.0 innings this year, Lance Lynn has the next lowest ERA, and his is 1.37--2.5 times higher than deGrom's.
• deGrom has given up just 26 hits and 8 walks giving him the very low WHIP of 0.56.
• Meanwhile, deGrom has struck out 103 batters. That's a lot in 64 innings!

Talk of MVP awards before the All-Star break is certainly premature, but it's not surprising that deGrom the favorite in betting markets to win the title in the National League.

It is a little ironic that I'm naming deGrom as my MLBoyfriend the week there has been some discussion about whether or not he has been cheating by sneaking banned substances onto balls. I'm no expert, but the consensus seems to be that he's probably not cheating. So, I'm going to go with that.

Congratulations, Jacob deGrom! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Keep it up and keep it clean.

Week 10: Patrick Wisdom

I had never heard of Patrick Wisdom before last week, but he mad quite the first impression.

Wisdom had a whopping. .435 batting average and 1.719 OPS last week. He hit 6 home runs, scored 7 runs, had 9 RBIs and even stole a base. 

He did all of this while being the poster child of the Strapping Young Men's Association.

Congratulations, Patrick Wisdom! You are the National League Player of the Week and, more importantly, my MLBoyfriend! It was a pleasure to meet you.