Opening Week 2026

Before we get to the boys, a little announcement...

2026 is the 11th season of MLBoyfriend! The focus and format were exactly the same for the first 10 years. As Opening Day approached this year, I wasn't feeling very inspired to do the same thing again.

A decade is a long time to be doing anything. Also, between the gambling scandals and the icky politics of the World Baseball Classic, I'm not feeling so great about Major League Baseball lately. Finally, it is a really rough time to be a Minnesota Twins fan these days--and, while I try to spread the love, there's no denying that the Twins have been a key element of MLBoyfriend since the beginning.

I do still love baseball though. So, let's see where this thing goes this year. Perhaps there will be some coverage of Minor League Baseball (hello, Saint Paul Saints!) and even some Townball (hi, Dassel-Cokato Saints!). Maybe I'll feature some players from the past who would have been named my MLBoyfriend if the award had existed in their careers. Certainly, if a current player catches my attention, they can win the traditional MLBoyfriend title.

With all that said, I easily managed to find not one but two MLBoyfriends from opening week--one old friend and one very new friend.

Mike Trout has appeared on MLBoyfriend quite a few times. He was one of the first players to be awarded the title in 2016. Somewhat shockingly, he hasn't won the award since 2018. Last week, he put some great numbers to end his dry streak. Trout had a very impressive .462 batting average and 1.573 OPS with 2 home runs, 5 runs, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Not bad for an old guy.

Chase DeLauter had a very good first "week" as a Major League ballplayer. The rookie had a .353 batting average and 1.412 OPS with 5 runs scored and 5 runs batted in. Most impressively, he had 4 home runs--the most in MLB last week. Only 2 players had hit 4 home runs in their first 3 career games before DeLauter. DeLauters performance earned him the first American League Player of the Week award of 2026.

Congratulations, Mike Trout & Chase DeLauter! You are the first MLBoyfriends of 2026.