Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani has been my MLBoyfriend 6 times. Given that he's quite possibly baseball's GOAT and he's very handsome, that number seems low. 

To be honest, Shohei's batting stats last week were not that impressive with just a .238 average and .685 OPS. He pitched one game last week, and it was a good one (more on that later) giving him decent, but not amazing pitching stats. In 6.0 innings pitched he gave up 1 walk, 2 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 10. He had a 1.50 ERA and 0.67 WHIP for the week.

With such meh stats, how did Shohei Ohtani win the MLBoyfriend title? By achieving a very specific statistical feat that will probably never be duplicated. I'll let the baseball nerds (said with nothing but love) at Made The Cut explain:

For those who don't watch the video, I'll try to explain. As of the making of this video, Ohtani had gotten on base in 48 consecutive games (which would go up to 51 consecutive games by the end of the week). He had also pitched 32 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run. According to OptaSTATS: 

...Since the earned run became an official stat in 1913, Ohtani and Babe Ruth are the only Major League players with a 30-plus-game on-base streak and a 30-plus-inning streak without allowing an earned run at any point in their careers.

Ohtani, unlike Ruth, had these two streaks going at the same time. As two-way players become more and more rare in baseball. It is highly unlikely anyone will do that again.

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani! You are my MLBoyfriend again. Keep setting records--no matter how obscure--and you have a good chance to keep winning the honor.

NLCS MLBoyfriend: Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani was already in serious contention for GOAT status, and then, last night, he surpassed the very high expectations of him. He turned in the greatest performance in postseason baseball ever.

Starting with the pitching, Shohei threw 6.0 scoreless innings giving up just 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 10 batters.

As if that pitching performance weren't enough, Shohei also stepped up to the plate in the game.

In 3 at-bats, he hit 3 home runs.

This one game was more than enough to win Ohtani the NLCS MVP Award.

Best of all, he did all this on my birthday, October 17, while wearing number 17!

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani! You are my 2025 National League Championship Series MLBoyfriend.

October Boys

Congratulations to all the 2025 MLBoyfriends who are going forward into the postseason!

Randy Arozarena

William Contreras

Pete Crow-Armstrong

Hunter Greene

Riley Greene

Bryce Harper

Kiké Hernández

Aaron Judge

Max Muncy

Shohei Ohtani

Cal Raleigh

Tarik Skubal

Christian Yelich

Shohei Ohtani

I kinda feel like I don't have to explain why I chose Shohei Ohtani as my MLBoyfriend on any given week. He's appeared on this blog so many times, I'm not sure I have that much new to say about him. However, I realized that he hasn't been featured so far this year, despite having potentially another MVP season, and I don't want him to think I take him for granted.

Last week, Shohei had 11 hits in 24 plate appearances--including his 1,000th hit as an MLB player--for a a .458 average. He had a 1.469 OPS with 2 doubles and 3 home runs. He scored 9 runs and batted in 4. Along the way, he had 2 stolen bases--although, perhaps, the less talk of stealing bases, the better.

As if the hitting weren't enough, Ohtani also had a very good start pitching. On Wednesday, August 6th, he went 4 full innings giving up 2 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run.

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

October Boys

Congratulations to the 2024 MLBoyfriends who have made it to the postseason!

Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers

Joey Cantillo, Cleveland Guardians

Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians

Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies

Ranger Suárez, Philadelphia Phillies

Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies

Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals

Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani clinched this week's MLBoyfriend award 4 days ago. On September 19, he became the first player in MLB history to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. To put that in a little perspective, only 6 players are in the "40-40 Club"--with 40 homers and steals in one season.

Ohtani didn't just set that record in that game, he smashed it.

Yes, Ohtani went 6 for 6 at the plate with 3 home runs, 5 extra base hits, 10 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Here's his Instagram post celebrating the night--be sure to scroll through to see all the adorableness.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shohei Ohtani | 大谷翔平 (@shoheiohtani)

I know baseball commentators are very prone to hyperbole; however, that is literally the best game by a hitter in baseball history.

And that was just Thursday. Ohtani kept going over the weekend. He ended the week with a .500 batting average and 1.641 OPS. He had 12 runs, 6 home runs, 4 doubles, 19 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. That's bonkers.

By the way, there are still 6 games left this season. Ohtani currently has 53 home runs and 55 stolen bases. While he's unlikely to establish the 60-60 Club this year, it is certainly possible that he will.

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.