Week 14: Joey Votto

HAPPY CANADA DAY! I'm so happy my favorite Canadian player, Joey Votto, is on a hot streak, so I can name him my MLBoyfriend. Last week, Votto had four runs, one home run, and two RBIs. He had a .368 average and .955 OPS. He even had a stolen base--his second of the season.

Votto's biggest night of the week came on Friday, June 28. He had four hits in the Reds' victory over the Cubs--and one of those hits was the 1,800th of his career.

Joey Votto singles in a run for career hit No. 1,800! The @Reds veteran's bat is scorching 🔥

Don't miss Cincinnati baseball on FSO & FOX Sports GO: https://t.co/MoMgktwwsD pic.twitter.com/HiALtT5w3X

— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) June 29, 2019

Best of all, Joey Votto did all this while continuing to be what the kids today call a "zaddy".

Week 13: Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka came out of the gate strong last week. On Monday, June 17, he pitched a complete game and shut out the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankee pitcher became the front runner to become my MLBoyfriend.



Tanaka's stats for that game are obviously really good: In 9.0 innings pitched he gave up two hits and one base on balls while striking out ten for a 0.88 WHIP. Of course, since it was a shut out, he had a 0.00 ERA and was given both the win and a quality start.

So, Tanaka pretty much had the MLBoyfriend title in the bag, Then, on Saturday, June 22, he threw another quality start.

Week 12: Charlie Blackmon

I don't just automatically hand out the MLBoyfriend title to the best batter of the week. However, Charlie Blackmon was the best hitter in the MLB last week by a country mile. 

Blackmon's stats for last week are pretty unreal. He went 21 for 37 for a .568 average and 1.784 OPS. He had 12 runs, 6 home runs, and 15 RBIs. Blackmon's nearest competition, Ketel Marte of the Arizona Cardinals, had almost as many runs (11) and home runs (5) but only 6 RBIs, and while his average was a very impressive .448, that's still over 100 points below Blackmon's.

It was a foregone conclusion that Blackmon would be named the NL Player of the Week--and he was. However, before I crown him my MLBoyfriend, we must address the elephant in the room--or should I say the woolly mammoth?

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.

Week 10: Trevor Story

Since the American League Player of the Week was my MLBoyfriend last week, it seems only fair that the National League  Player of the Week win the honor this week. Welcome back, Trevor Story. It's always nice to see the first ever MLBoyfriend back on the blog.

Last week, Story went 11 for 21 at the plate giving him an amazing .524 batting average. He had a 1.631 OPS, 9 runs,7 RBIs, 2 home runs, and 2 stolen bases.

Story had a monster night on Friday, May 31--he hit both of his home runs and had all seven of his RBIs in that one game.

Week 9: Max Kepler

The Minnesota Twins won their last six games in a row and now have the best record in the MLB. They have a 10 game lead in the American League Central, and have a .692 win percentage compared to the .648 of team with the next best record, the Houston Astros. Leading the charge for the Twins last week was Max Kepler, their MVP at the plate. Kepler was not just the Twins' best batter; he was arguably the most valuable offensive player in baseball last week.

Kepler had 10 runs, 10 RBIs, a .571 average and 1.790 OPS. Those are some really big numbers. How big? Of all players last week, Kepler had the most runs and was tied with four other players for the most RBIs. 

Compared to players with 10 or more at bats, Kepler had the second best OPS and the third best best average. The two players with better averages, Justin Turner and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., had 15 and 10 at bats respectively. Kepler had 21.

Week 8: Byron Buxton

There's no doubt that the Minnesota Twins have had a great start to the season. They currently have the second best record in the MLB and are on top of the AL Central. It's early days, but it looks like the Twins might be real contenders if their players keep up this pace. The team's MVP of last week was also it's most improved hitter, Byron Buxton.

Buxton, had six runs, three home runs, a .269 average, and 0.999 OPS. Most mpressively, he had eleven RBIs--the most of all MLB players last week.

Of course, a grand slam always helps build the RBI count, and he hit the second of his career on May 18th.