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.

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.

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.

Week 20: Cody Bellinger

 

I chose Cody Bellinger to be my MLBoyfriend on Monday simply because it was bizarre that I hadn't done so earlier. He didn't have a particularly good week last week, but he has been having an amazing season--especially in the spring.

Then, life got in the way, and I didn't get around to writing this post until tonight which is Thursday. I'm glad I waited because he made a good case for himself just a couple of hours ago: Cody Bellinger became the first player to hit 40 home runs this season.  He did it style with a monster, three-run blast.



Not entirely coincidentally, this happened:

Cody Bellinger is the new MLB home run leader, setting a career high with his 40th of the year. The Dodgers are also the first team since at least 1908 to hit 4+ homers in four straight games. https://t.co/46MuOs89N0

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) August 15, 2019

I don't really have much to add to that except to say that I really enjoyed doing my "photo research" on Cody Bellinger. So, now, I'm just going to post some pics of Bellinger with little-to-no comment.

Cody Bellinger is really pretty.

He also has a really pretty swing.

Bellinger is an outfielder,
and I'm a sucker for pics of leaping catches.

It took two security guards to pry this teen girl off Bellinger
after she got onto the field and hugged him. Even though she
was arrested, she said it was the best day of her life.
She is my new hero.

I mean... come  on...

Misters October 2019

MLB's regular season has ended, but my work here goes on. Let's take a look and see which of my MLBoyfriends made it to the postseason this year.

The Milwaukee Brewers

Christian Yelich

Yelich actually won't be playing in the postseason, but, despite his injury,
he just won the NL Batting Title. He definitely deserves credit for helping
the Brewers win a wild card spot.

The Washington Nationals

Anthony Rendon

Max Scherzer

The St. Louis Cardinals

Dakota Hudson

Kolten Wong

The Houston Astros

José Altuve

The Los Angeles Dodgers

Cody Bellinger

Kiké Hernández

Joc Pederson

The New York Yankees

Masahiro Tanaka

GleyberTorres

And finally, it's not surprising that my hometown team has the most MLBoyfriends of the year. Here they are....

The Minnesota Twins

Byron Buxton

Due to injury, Buxton will not be playing in the postseason;
however, he's such a favorite of mine, I still had to include him.

Nelson Cruz

Ryan LaMarre

Eddie Rosario

If you haven't seen this amazing catch Rosario made last week,
go check it out here.

SPECIAL POSTSEASON BONUS
Although, I haven't chose Brian Dozier as my MLBoyfriend this year (it's been two years since he won the title), I couldn't pass up the chance to give him a shout out this week. I kind of hate the pre‐planned locker room celebrations. They are just so generic. However, when the Nationals clinched a wild card spot, Brian Dozier found a way to kick things up several notches, and I really appreciate it.

Check out the video of his celebration--complete with twerking--in this tweet:

Brian Dozier.

We're speechless.

We're without speech.pic.twitter.com/Dh5UdQm4gk

— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 25, 2019

Congratulations to all my MLBoyfriends going into the postseason! I look forward to seeing you all on the field in the next month.

Week 4: Eddie Rosario

You might think it was his great stats last week that brought won Eddie Rosario his second MLBoyfriend title. His numbers were definitely impressive with 8 runs, 9 RBIs, a .276 average and 1.231 OPS. As good as they are, it wasn't those stats that caught my eye.

You might think it was the fact that, just like last week's MLBoyfriend, Rosario hit 6 home runs last week. I saw two of those home runs in person last Thursday, April 19, on my first trip to Target Field this season--when, despite Rosario's best efforts, the Minnesota Twins lost to the Toronto Blue Jays. But if number of home runs was what determined my MLBoyfriend, Chistian Yelich's 8 would have won him the title for the week.

You might also think that Rosario's three homers in the Twins monster double header against the Orioles on Saturday, April 20. Minnesota hit 11 home runs in one day. The 8 home runs they hit in the second game tied the Twins record for the most home runs in a single game.

2018 MLB Award Winners

It's time for the traditional final MLBoyfriend post of the year. All the MLB Awards have been announced, so let's see how my picks matched up with theirs.

Ronald Acuña Jr.: National League Rookie of the Year

Mookie Betts; American League Most Valuable Player, Golden Glove, Silver Slugger, Defensive Player of the Year (right field), & Player Choice Award for Outstanding Player (American League)

Paul Goldschmidt: Silver Slugger

Dallas Keuchel: Golden Glove

J.D. Martinez: American League Hank Aaron Award, two Silver Sluggers, & Players Choice Award for Player of the Year
UPDATE 3/26/19: I wrote this before J.D. Martinez posted something very problematic on social media that is in direct opposition to my values. He has a right to express political opinions, but words have consequences. In this case the consequence is that I no longer think he's hot--in fact, he's the opposite of hot. NRA propaganda is deal breaker for me.

Shohei Ohtani: American League Rookie of the Year

Anthony Rizzo: Golden Glove

Trevor Story: Silver Slugger

Mike Trout: Silver Slugger

Christian Yelich: National League Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, & Players Choice Award for Outstanding Player (National League)

Congratulations to all my MLBoyfriends who won MLB Awards!