Triple Crown watch is on.
For a second straight season, one of baseball’s rarest feats is in play. Goldschmidt isn’t just chasing his first career MVP Award, he’s chasing a batting Triple Crown in the National League — which would be the first in the NL in 85 years.
The Cardinals’ All-Star first baseman has a chance to lead the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs, the three categories that make up a Triple Crown. It’s a historic accomplishment for a player to lead either league in all three categories — there have been only 12 Triple Crown seasons in the AL or NL in the last century, and Miguel Cabrera a decade ago was the only player to win a Triple Crown in the last 50 years.
Here’s a look at Goldschmidt’s ongoing quest for a Triple Crown in 2022, with some historical context.
Here are the all-time greats Goldschmidt would join if he pulls off the feat. Since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, just 10 different AL/NL players have won a Triple Crown, with two multiple-time winners. There’s been only one Triple Crown in the Divisional Era (since 1969).
* = Led all AL/NL players in all three categories
Note: Six players led the AL or NL in all three Triple Crown categories before RBIs became an official statistic.
In the seasons since Miggy won the last Triple Crown in 2012, several star sluggers have been pursuing a Triple Crown down the stretch — including Vlad Jr. just last year. Here are five recent players who came up just short.
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2021, AL): Vlad Jr.’s Triple Crown push was a big storyline in the MVP race against eventual winner Shohei Ohtani, but although he tied for the AL home run crown with 48, he finished second in batting average (.311, behind Yuli Gurriel) and fifth in RBIs (111, 10 behind league leader Salvador Perez).
• Marcell Ozuna (2020, NL): Ozuna led in home runs and RBIs during the shortened season, but his .338 average put him third, behind the Nationals’ Juan Soto (.351) and Braves teammate Freddie Freeman (.341).
• Christian Yelich (2018, NL): Yeli’s NL MVP campaign for the Brewers featured a batting title and narrow misses in homers (36, two behind Nolan Arenado) and RBIs (110, one behind Javier Báez).
• JD Martinez (2018, AL): Martinez was the AL RBI champ and finished second in both homers (43, five behind Khris Davis) and batting average (.330, 16 points behind Red Sox teammate Mookie Betts).
• Miguel Cabrera (2013, AL): Miggy nearly won two straight Triple Crowns, bringing home the batting title but finishing with nine homers and one RBI behind Orioles slugger Chris Davis.
5 things to know about Goldschmidt’s Triple Crown chase
• Goldschmidt would give the Cardinals their third Triple Crown winner (along with Joe Medwick and Rogers Hornsby) and fourth total Triple Crown (Hornsby won twice) since RBIs became official. Those would both be the most of any team. The Red Sox (Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams twice) and Yankees (Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig) are the other franchises with multiple winners.
• Goldschmidt could break the long-lasting run of American League Triple Crown winners — the last six, from Miggy in 2012 back to Williams in 1942, have come from the AL. The last National League winner was a fellow Cardinal: Medwick, in 1937.
• A Triple Crown for Goldschmidt would come on the 100-year anniversary of Hornsby winning the first official Triple Crown in AL/NL history — and the first in Cardinals franchise history — in 1922. Hornsby batted .401 that season, with 42 home runs and 152 RBIs.
• Goldschmidt, at 34 years old and in his 12th season, would be the oldest Triple Crown winner. Frank Robinson (30 years old in 1966) and Gehrig (31 years old in 1934) are the only other players to win a Triple Crown in their 30s.
• Goldschmidt has actually come somewhat close to a Triple Crown before. Nine years ago, in his big breakout season with the D-backs in 2013, he led the NL in two of the three categories, home runs (36) and RBIs (125). His batting average was .302, but that wasn’t enough to challenge the Rockies’ Michael Cuddyer (.331) for the batting title.
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