Otto Lopez

Otto Lopez has earned many honors in the past few days. On Saturday, it was announced that he would be in the All-Star Game for the first time in his career. Today, he was named the National League Player of the Week. 

Lopez had a .500 batting average (highest in MLB) and a 1.536 batting average with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 3 home runs. He scored 7 runs and batted in 7. He also had one stolen base.

In addition to being hot at the plate, Lopez is just plain hot. That helped earn him an honor bigger than being an All-Star or Player of the Week: being featured here on MLBoyfriend.

Congratulations, Otto Lopez! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.

Honorable Mention

If Dansby Swanson hadn't won the last MLBoyfriend title, he probably would have this week. He had a .409 batting average and a 1.545 OPS. He the most home runs in Major League Baseball with 5 and tied for the second most RBIs with 11. Over the past two weeks, Swanson had 26 RBIs in just 10 games--a feat no player has accomplished since Joe DiMaggio did it in 1939.

Click through the post below for more on Dansby Swanson's incredible 2-week (and counting) hot streak.

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Dansby Swanson

It's kind of shocking that Dansby Swanson has never won the MLBoyfriend title. He has been featured on this site once--but that was as part of my 2022 All-Star Game Red Carpet coverage. At that time, I noted that Swanson had been "runner up" MLBoyfriend multiple times that season--and I'm sure I've considered him many times in the years since then.

Last week, Swanson put up some MLBoyfriend worthy stats. He had a .250 batting average and .920 OPS with 7 hits--including 1 double, 1 triple and 3 home runs. He scored 5 runs.

The real story though is RBIs. Swanson had 15 RBI's last week--tied for the most in Major League Baseball. All 15 were in one series in which the Cubs swept the Mets. 11 of the 15 were one day when the teams played a double header. He's the first player in Cubs history to have 4 or more RBIs in 3 consecutive games.

In addition to that, I'd like to point out that Dansby Swanson is very, very handsome.

Congratulations, Dansby Swanswon! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.

Anthony Rizzo

This week's MLBoyfriend did not play at all last week. In fact, he hasn't played all season. However, I could not pass up the opportunity to celebrate an MLBoyfriend favorite on last time.

Anthony Rizzo officially retired as a player last week. While the last roster he was on was the 2024 Yankees (more on that later), Rizzo retired as a Chicago Cub--which is as it should be.

Internet algorithms know what they are doing. My feeds have been full of Rizzo for the last few days. Let's take a look at some highlights of his retirement via Instagram. First, Rizzo literally wore his heart on his sleeve by wearing a jersey signed by children who have battled cancer.

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Rizzo did not go to the executive suite to watch the game after the ceremony. Instead, he head to the bleachers for what has rightly been called "Retirement-Palooza".

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Rizzo's buddy, Ian Happ, threw a ball to Tony with a note and beer money.

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The Cubs' Moisés Ballesteros hit his first career home runs, and Rizzo almost caught it. (Click through for video.)

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Finally, during the seventh inning stretch, Rizzo sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" with Cindy Crawford and Eddie Vedder of all people. Crawford and Vedder are from the Chicago area and Cubs fans, but still... so random. (Click through for video.)

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An "adult beverage" fueled good time was had by all.

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Rizzo is retiring with a Hall-of-Fame-worthy record. He has a very respectable career batting average of .261 and an equally good career OPS of .828. In 13 years playing in the MLB, he had 1644 hits, 922 runs, 303 home runs and 965 RBI. He's a 3 time All-Star. In terms of awards, he won 4 Golden Gloves (including one Platinum Glove), 1 Silver Slugger, 1 National League Defensive Player Of The Year, and, most impressively, the Roberto Clemente Award. And there was that time Rizzo made the final out in the Cubs' first World Series win in 108 years.

Of course, here at MLBoyfriend, Rizzo has another quality that has earned him this retirement post: he's totally adorable. Even after a few "adult beverages" in the bleachers, he was looking good.

 And, while he did fill out Yankees Pinstripes very nicely...

...It was great to see Rizzo retired in the uniform he looks best in: The Cubbies.

Congratulations, Anthony Rizzo! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Pete Crow-Armstrong

Pete Crow-Armstrong has been having the kind of season where he's under consideration for MLBoyfriend every week. Now, his week has finally come.

Crow-Armstrong had an amazing .458 batting average and 1.379 OPS last week. He hit a double, 2 triples and 2 home runs while scoring 5 runs and batting in 10.

Congratulations, Pete Crown-Armstrong! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

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

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.

Week 25: Kris Bryant

Holy cow! Has it really been three years since Kris Bryant was named my MLBoyfriend the first and until today only time? That's just bonkers.

I mean, KB is very good at baseball, and he's very good looking. That's a combo I usually reward more often.

Am I the only one digging the tan lines?

Bryant also happens to wear #17 which is my favorite number. He should definitely get some bonus points for that.

Kris Bryant is half of my favorite baseball bromance: BRYZZO. The other half is three-time MLBoyfriend, Anthony Rizzo.

So, picking Bryant as my MLBoyfriend gives me an excuse to post this adorable video.




Speaking of stuff to post, do you have any idea how may GIFs there are of Kris Bryant being cute? A lot, that's how many. Here's a small sampling of what's out there.

Week 11: Cole Hamels or Max Scherzer?

I realized I have been neglecting pitchers this year. We're a third of the way through the season, and I've only chosen one pitcher as my MLBoyfriend so far. So, I had my eyes peeled for a hurler who could win my heart.

On Friday, June 7, Cole Hamels threw a great game for the Cubs. He pitched 8 innings giving up just two hits, one base on balls and no earned runs. Hamels ended with game with 10 strikeouts, a 0.50 WHIP, a 0.00 ERA, a quality start and a win.



It seemed Hamels would win the MLBoyfriend title again after a two years since he was lasted named.

Then, the very next day, Saturday, June 8, Max Scherzer threw a heck of a game.

Scherzer went scored a win and a quality start by going 7 complete innings for the Nationals with 1 base on balls, 6 hits, 9 strikeouts, and zero earned runs. That gave him a 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP for the game.



Now, the stat heads out there have certainly noticed that Hamels stats are little better than Scherzer's. You might think that would earn Hamels the title. However, we know that my MLBoyfriend is not just about stats.