CJ Abrams

CJ Abrams got a taste of appearing on MLBoyfriend last week when I included him in the All-Star Game Red Carpet coverage. That clearly lit a fire under him to win his first MLBoyfriend title.

Abrams went 15-for-26 at the plate last week giving him a .577 batting average--the highest in Major League Baseball. The 6 home runs he hit--the most in the MLB--contributied to his whopping 1.939 OPS. He had 12 RBIs--the most in MLB. Speaking of RBIs, Abrams has 82 for the season--(say it with me) the most in the MLB.

Congratulations CJ Abrams! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.

PS: Shout out to MLBoyfriend favorites, Mookie Betts and Kiké Hernández! The two of them decided to skip the White House celebration of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2025 World Series win. They gave non-political excuses, but we all know who they were shunning.

James Wood

James Wood started the week with a grand slam on Monday, July 6th. And, it was a monster at 446 feet.

Wood ended the week with a .500 batting average and a massive 1.955 OPS with 5 home runs. He scored 11 runs and batted in 8. He also stole 2 bases.

Wood won the National League Player of the Week award. His next stop is the All-Star Game.

Last, but not least, in addition to being very handsome, Wood fills out his uniform very nicely.

Congratulations, James Wood! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.

Eddie Rosario

Oh, hey there Eddie Rosario. It's been a minute.

Here's a little look behind the scenes here at MLBoyfriend. I always make my pick first thing in the morning. However, I don't get around to actually writing the blog post until the evening. The MLB usually announces it's Players Of The Week after I've made my choice, but before I post. A few times this year, including this week, I have chosen one of the Players Of The Week. It's a little annoying because it makes it look like I'm just following the pack. On the other hand, it's nice because it saves me the trouble of having to type out the stats.

Congratulations, Eddie Rosario! You are the National League Player Of The Week and, more importantly, my MLBoyfriend.

Jeimer Candelario

I don't know why I've never noticed it before, but the official MLB page for some players lists their nicknames. This week's MLBoyfriend, Jeimer Candelario, has a fabulous one, Candy. If I hadn't already chosen Candelario this week, that would have put him over the top.

Candelario had a great week at the plate with 16 hits in 28 at-bats for an incredible .586 batting average. He had 4 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs giving him an impressive 1.000 slugging percentage. He scored 4 runs and batted in 5.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Candelario looked liked this while doing all that.

Congratulations, Candy! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Week 17: Juan Soto

The title of this video, "Soto Is Red-Hot Since HR Derby", is somewhat incorrect, IMHO.

Juan Soto is always red hot. I mean, seriously....

I will agree, however, that he has been red hot at the plate since the All-Star break. Last week, he had an amazing .429 batting average and 1.651 OPS with 4 home runs, 6 runs, 9(!) RBIs and a stolen base.

Congratulations, Juan Soto! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Week 15: Trea Turner

It's never a bad week to pick Trea Turner as my MLBoyfriend. The pictures above are Exhibit A of his worthiness. I kind of can't believe it's been almost five years since he won the title. (Well, he was in the doghouse for a little while, but I'm over it.)

Turner's batting stats last week are definitely MLBoyfriend level. He had a .313 average and 0.947 OPS with 3 home runs, 6 runs, and 4 RBIs. He even had one stolen base.

I also think fielding is overlooked in judging baseball players, but Turner made a few great plays last week, like this one.

HOWEVER....

If I'm being honest, Trae Turner is really winning the MLBoyfriend title this week for something he did the week before last week. On July 1st, he hit for the cycle. This is always an amazing feat, but it was made even more special because he became the first MLB player to do it on his birthday. On top of that, this is Turner's third complete cycle--an MLB record shared by only 4 other players.

I really can't believe I missed the entire event when it happened.

Congratulations, Trea Turner! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Better late than never.

PS: Congrats on the hair. I know that it's not the case, but you always seem to be sporting the perfect example of male FFH.

Week 13: Kyle Schwarber

Anyone paying attention to baseball the past couple of weeks could have seen this one coming a mile away. To say Kyle Schwarber has been on a hot streak at the plate would be an understatement. He has been on fire.

Schwarber hit 9 home runs in just 6 games from June 19-25.

Last week, June 21-27, Schwarber had an insane .400 average with a 1.704 OPS. He hit 7 home runs--for comparison, my entire fantasy team had 10 home runs in the same week--scored 8 runs and had 12 RBIs.

A nice by-product of all this is that there are lots a great pictures of Schwarber rounding the bases.

Congratulations, Kyle Schwarber! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week!

Take a curtain call. You deserve it!

World Series: Juan Soto

I had pretty much chosen Juan Soto as my MLBoyfriend for the World Series after his incredible performance in Game 1.



Sure, other players for the Washington Nationals caught my eye...

I certainly had to consider World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg.

Adam Eaton had a great series and is quite the zaddy to boot.

Speaking of zaddies, a MLBoyfriend winner from earlier this postseason, Howie Kendrick, hit what would turn out to be the World Series winning home run.

I've had my eye on Anthony Rendon since the second week of the season when I chose him to be my MLBoyfriend even though the scrappy Washington Nationals were not playing like a championship team early in the season.

It's been a couple of years since Ryan Zimmerman has been my MLBoyfriend. He has a lot going for him: he's been with the Nationals from the very start; he hit the most symbolically important home run of the series; and he looks like this in uniform...

Of course, I alway super happy to see Sean Doolittle, former MLBoyfriend, the stalwart of the Nationals bullpen, big LGBTQ+ ally, and hot nerd.

Finally, there was long-time MLBoyfriend favorite Max Scherzer. Just days after barely being able to move his throwing arm, Scherzer gutted it out for five innings in final game. 

So many worth contenders, but none of them shook me from my initial pick, Juan Soto.

Postseason, Week 2: Howie Kendrick

The Washington Nationals weren't even supposed to make it to the postseason much less defeat the dominant Los Angeles Dodgers in the the National League Division Series. Yet, they did both. And there's no better representative of their improbable journey than Howie Kendrick.

This headline tells the story: Howie Kendrick goes from postseason zero to hero for the Washington Nationals with one swing. To say Kendrick's postseason had been lackluster would be an understatement. He made some key mistakes. Then, in game 5 of a tied series, he did this in the 10th inning:



That's right, a grand slam. In this picture, you can see that Kendrick's grand slam had on of his teammates literally jumping for joy.

Howie Kendrick is 36 years old and a 14-year veteran of Major League Baseball. He said in an interview after the game that it was "probably the best moment" of his career. There's no "probably" about it; this is how Kendrick will be remembered in baseball history.

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.