Pablo López

The Minnesota Twins are only 4 games into the 2023 post-season, and Pablo López has already notched up 2 wins. His stats over those 2 games are really, really good. He has pitched 12.2 innings with a 0.71 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. 

Last night, October 8th, López threw 7 full innings with 7 strikeouts while giving up 6 hits, 1 walk and 0 runs. It was a master class in pitching.

Not for nothing, López is also a totally cutie pie. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Congratulations, Pablo López! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

October Boys

A dozen of this season's MLBoyfriends will be playing in the postseason. Here they are, in alphabetical order, for another look.

Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks

Nick Castellanos, Philadelphia Phillies

Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miami Marlins

Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies 

Alex Kirilloff, Minnesota Twins

Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins

Michael Lorenzen, Philadelphia Phillies 

Whit Merrifield, Toronto Blue Jays

Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays

Anthony Santander, Baltimore Orioles

Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers

I offer my congratulations to all twelve of you. However, I'm only wishing good luck to Alex & Royce.

PS: I created this post on my phone which is not ideal. Apologies for any wonky formatting.

Nick Castellanos

Nick Castellanos had a .375 average last week with 9 hits in 24 at bats including 1 double, 1 triple, and 5 home runs. He had 6 runs and batted in 11. 

All those hits gave photographers plenty of chances to get pictures of Castellanos looking very good running the bases with a button or two undone on his jersey as is his wont. FYI: I know Nick's wife, Jess, put out a plea to stop focusing on his open collar, but she specifically addressed it to the "ladies"--so I'm good (well, good-ish).

On Wednesday, September 20, Castellanos was clearly the MVP for the Phillies. He hit two home runs and also made an amazing throw to home to keep Atlanta from scoring the game winning run and put the game into extra innings.

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Ok, maybe the smarter play is to let that ball drop in foul territory. However, all is forgiven because Philadelphia went on to win the game and Castellanos looks like this:

Congratulations, Nick Castellanos! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Bobby Witt Jr.

Bobby Witt Jr. had a very good week at the plate last week. He had a whopping .450 average with 9 hits in 20 at bats--and an even more impressive .500 OPB. He had 1 home run, 4 RBI and 6 runs.

Witt also had 6 stolen bases last week--the most of any player in Major League Baseball. Since 2023 has been the season of stolen bases (due in large part to MLB rule changes), it seemed like I should get around to recognizing that stat in my pick.

I also don't recognize defense enough in selecting my MLBoyfriend mostly because the stats on it are hard to find on a week-to-week basis. However, Witt is excellent on defense and there's a strong case for him winning the Golden Glove this year.

Finally, flowing locks on a base runner is a good way to get my attention. Witt has a good flow going.

Congratulations, Bobby Witt Jr! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

PS: I'd like to give a shout out to this week's runner up for the MLBoyfriend prize, two-time past winner, Trea Turner. He also had a great week at the plate with 11 hits in 31 at bats for a .355 average with 2 doubles and 2 home runs. He scored 6 runs and batted in 5. 

If I'm being honest, it wasn't his numbers that made me pay attention to Trea this past week, it was the Instagram algorithm. Posts about him kept showing up in my feed--even though I don't follow him or the Phillies. To be fair, they are pretty impressive stats.

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Speaking of stolen bases...

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Seiya Suzuki

I've been sleeping on Seiya Suzuki for the last couple of years. But no longer.

Suzuki put up some hard to miss numbers last week. He had 12 hits in 27 at-bats for a .444 average. His slugging percentage was even more impressive at .889--with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs. Along the way, he scored 5 runs, batted in 10, and stole a base.

If you watch some of Suzuki's highlights online, one thing is clear: he is having a lot of fun playing the game. That makes him a lot of fun to watch.

Congratulations, Seiya Suzuki, you are my MLBoyfriend of the week!

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MLBoyfriend favorite, Joey Votto! 

Joey returned from the IL to the Reds line-up just in time for his birthday yesterday, September 10th. He celebrated in style with a monster home run. 

This is what the young and hip people do. pic.twitter.com/8BRocLVw1v

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 10, 2023

Royce Lewis

Royce Lewis is on fire just when the Twins need him to be to clinch the division title. 

Last week, Lewis had 7 hits in 25 at-bats, for a .280 average. He scored 6 runs, hit 3 home runs and had 9 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Not bad at all for a rookie. 

I chose Lewis earlier this afternoon based on those stats. However, I have mention the amazing game he played between me selecting him and actually sitting down to write this post. Tonight, September 4, he had 3 hits in 4 at-bats with 1 home run and 6 RBI!

The home run Lewis hit tonight was a grand slam--his 3rd grand slam in just 8 games.

Here's a couple of stats about Royce's grand slam tonight:

• Lewis is the 2nd player in MLB history to have at least 5 home runs including 3 grand slams in 8 games. Lou Gehrig was the first 92 years ago.
• In just 56 games in the majors, Lewis now has 4 grand slams. That is by far the fewest games it's taken to reach that milestone in MLB history. 2nd place goes to Rudy York who got his 4th grand slam in his 132nd game in 1938. 

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As if all that weren't enough, there's also this:

Congratulations, Royce Lewis. You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Bryce Harper

This year, I've been trying to feature new faces here. Sometimes, however, I can't help but give a shout out to an old favorite. Bryce Harper made it very easy to pick him this week.

Harper had 12 hits in 23 at-bats giving him an impressive .522 average. He scored 6 runs and had 10 RBI. He had 3 home runs including one inside-the-park which is always fun to watch.

No Bryce Harper post would be complete without some admiration of his flowing locks. Fortunately, his helmet came off as he was rounding the bases for his inside-the-park home run. So, there are lots of pictures of his glorious mane.

Congratulations, Bryce Harper! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Julio Rodriguez

Julio Rodriguez was named the American League Player of Week for last week--and with good reason. 

From Wednesday, August 16th, to Saturday, August 19th, Rodiriguez set the MLB record for the most hits scored in 4 consecutive games--with 17! He also set a record for the Seattle Mariners franchise by hitting 10 hits in 10 at-bats. Here's the last 4 hits that set those records.

Rodiriguez ended the week with an astonishing .568 average with 21 hits in 37 at-bats. He had 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 runs, 12 RBI!, and 6 stolen bases!!

Congratulations, Julio Rodriguez! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.