Jackson Chourio & Garrett Mitchell

To celebrate the Milwaukee Brewers being the first National League team to clinch a playoff spot, I have chosen two of their players as my MLBoyfriends this week. (The Tampa Rays clinched before the Brewers, but I much prefer the Brew Crew to the Rays.)

Jackson Chourio wins his second MLBoyfriend award of the season.

Chourio had a .481 batting average and 1.332 with 3 doubles and 2 home runs. He scored 9 runs and batted in 8. He also had 2 stolen bases.

Garrett Mitchell hit the Brewers' first grand slam of the season in the game that secured the team's playoff spot. He ended the week with 2 home runs, 7 runs, 9 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He had a .381 average and 1.149 OPS.

 

Congratulations, Jackson Chourio! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Congratulations, Garrett Mitchell! You are also my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Jackson Chourio

Brice Turang hands the MLBoyfriend

title over to Jackson Chourio

For the second week in a row, a player for the Milwaukee Brewers has won the MLBoyfriend title. It's not that surprising since they are a very good team--their .623 record is the 3rd best in all of Major League Baseball.

Also, Jackson Chourio is overdue on being named my MLBoyfriend--although at age 22 and in his 2nd MLB season, he can't be long overdue. Chourio was a runner-up one week in his rookie year, but lost out to another rookie named Jackson, Jackson Merrill.

Last week, Chourio had a .448 batting average and 1.418 OPS. He scored 8 runs and batted in 10. He also hit 5 home runs over 5 consecutive games.

Chourio shares the National League Player of the Week title this week with his teammate, pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. (See above about the Brewers being a very good team.)

And, last but not least, Jackson Chourio is super cute.

Congratulations, Jackson Chourio! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Brice Turang

When Brice Turang walked up to bat on Monday, June 1st, surely he was hoping to end his week-long slump. His last hit had been on Sunday, May 24th, and since then, he had gone 0-for-21 at the plate.

Turang ended his slump in a spectacular fashion on June 1st. He went 2-for-2 hitting a double and a triple. He also walked twice, so he reached base in all 4 of his plate appearances. He scored 2 runs and batted in 2.

This would kick off an excellent week for Turang. He ended up with a .407 batting average and 1.262 OPS. He hit 2 home runs, scored 6 runs and had 8 RBIs.

Congratulations, Brice Turang! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

William Contreras

After the Minnesota Twins disastrous fire sale at the trade deadline, I'm looking for a new favorite team for the rest of the season. I might as well go with another team from the Upper Midwest--especially when it's the best team in baseball right now. So, congrats to the Milwaukee Brewers, my new squad for 2025--and probably 2026 the way things are going.

To celebrate the Brew Crew's ascendance, I've chosen William Contreras as my MLBoyfried of the week.

Contreras had a .464 batting average and a 1.357 OPS with 2 doubles and 3 home runs. He scored 11 runs and batted in 5. Also, he has this whole thing going for him...

And, Contreras can definitely give Cal Raleigh some real competition for another title in baseball.

Congratulations, William Contreras! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Christian Yelich

Christian Yelich is one of perhaps a dozen players that I'm always hoping has a good week, so I have a reason to name him my MLBoyfriend. He has won the title twice, but the last time was in 2019--more on that later.

Yelich had two great games last week. On Tuesday, May 27, he hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning. I was a little surprised to learn that it was the first walk-off home run of his career--I guess he was waiting until he could go really big.

Then, on Friday, May 30, Yelich went 3 for 5 including 2 home runs. He scored 2 runs that game and batted in 4. 

Yelich ended the week with a .500 batting average, 1.545 OPS, 5 runs, 3 home runs, 9 RBI and 1 stolen base. Those numbers were impressive enough to earn him the National League Player of the Week title. They also happen to be better than the last time he won the MLBoyfriend title; however, in 2019, Yelich won extra points by modeling in ESPN Magazine's dearly departed Body Issue.

Congratulations, Christian Yelich! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Rowdy Tellez

Rowdy Tellez takes the prize this week for a few reasons. First, his name is Rowdy--which is the best first name in Major League Baseball since my old friend (and two-time MLBoyfriend) Buster Posey retired. Second, he put up some great numbers last week. He had 6 runs, 5 home runs, 12 RBIs (the most in MLB), a .240 average and 1.201 OPS.

Also, this year, I'm all about body positivity and celebrating some of the bigger boys of baseball.

Then, I saw this story:

Before the game, Rowdy gave his biggest fan a thank you gift for driving down to see him all the way from Canada.#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/C43tf6NoaG

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 26, 2022

And the deal was sealed for Rowdy.

Congratulations, Rowdy Tellez! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Week 24: Christian Yelich

Sure, Christian Yelich had a very good week last week.  He had 4 runs, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, a .381 average, 1.298 OPS, and 4 stolen bases too boot. He's also a strong contender to win the NL MVP Award again this season.

But if I'm being honest, the real reason Yelich is my MLBoyfriend this week is because I'm lazy. See, the ESPN Magazine Body Issue came out last week, and Christian Yelich got all naked for a photo shoot featured in it.

I look forward to the Body Issue every year for many reasons, but mostly because it makes this blog incredibly easy to "write".  Let's face it,  no one is reading this text anymore.

Although I'm a little mad at ESPN Magazine because last year they featured two MLB players, Dallas Keuchel and Yasiel Puig, in the Body Issue giving me two weeks of blog content instead of just one. Still, I ca't complain too much when they give me pictures like this:

Oh, and also video of how that picture was shot:

Congratulations, Christian Yelich! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. I strongly encourage everyone to check out the rest of the ESPN Magazine Body Issue spread that won the title.

League Championship Series: Christian Yelich & Justin Verlander

I kept putting off naming both Christian Yelich and Justin Verlander my MLBoyfriend this season because I figured I'd always have another chance. With both the Brewers and the Astros eliminated from the postseason last week, it's now or never.

Christian Yelich is very likely to be the National League MVP and has clearly had several great weeks this season. He's also cute as a button.

Yet, somehow, I never selected Yelich as my MLBoyfriend.

Even more shocking, in the three years of this blog, Verlander has never made the cut. He's one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he was especially strong in the first half of this season. He also cuts a fine figure.

Although, to be fair to myself, I have expressed my fondness for Justin Verlander elsewhere.

Congratulations, Christian Yelich! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Congratulations, Justin Verlander! You are also my MLBoyfriend of the week.

All I can say to both of you is: Better late than never.