Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is quietly in the race for the National League triple crown.
But he has been silently making his way towards history. According to Codify Baseball’s X account, Ozuna has a chance to win the Triple Crown and is competing with the game’s best player, Shohei Ohtani.
He leads in RBIs by eight (84-76 as of Wednesday morning) and is tied with Ohtani in home homers and average.
Marcell Ozuna leads the NL in RBI by 7, trails the NL lead in HRs by 1, and trails the NL lead in AVG by 8 points.
No National League player has won a Triple Crown since 1937. pic.twitter.com/LGlFzi57sz
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 31, 2024
An explosive performance down the stretch could put him over the top.
Significance of the Batting Triple Crown
For those who need a refresher, the batting Triple Crown occurs when a player tops their league (American or National) in batting average, home runs, and RBI in a single season.
Two of those stats make stat nerds groan, yet the feat is nonetheless worthy of recognition as a difficult and excellent accomplishment. It has only happened 18 times in baseball history, and this total is based on rules that were considerably different in 1878.
That is less often than a perfect game, which has occurred 24 times.
The most recent Triple Crown winner was Tigers first baseman and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera in 2012. He topped the league in batting average (.330), home runs (44), and RBIs (139).
While a dozen years is plenty of time, keep in mind that Cabrera’s Triple Crown is the only one since 1967, and no National League player has accomplished it since 1937.
So, if Ozuna does it, he will make history in a variety of ways.
Now there’s the added benefit of Ohtani’s switch to the National League. This might be a race to the finish, similar to the McGwire-Sosa agreement. A contest to be the first to do something that dates back to before World War II, when Lou Gehrig was still adding to his Iron Man streak and the Braves were still in Boston.
So, start checking in on this race from time to time. It is not widely discussed, and it is a race that the game requires to gain traction in the sporting world.