Braves DH Marcell Ozuna Close to Making History

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is quietly in the race for the National League triple crown.

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is a triple crown threat in the National League. / Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna has been one of the few consistent bats in the Braves lineup this season. It earned him a spot in the All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby. 

But he has been quietly inching his way towards history. Codify Baseball’s X account pointed out Ozuna has a shot at the Triple Crown and he’s in a chase with the top player in the game, Shohei Ohtani. 

He’s the RBI leader by eight (84-76 on Wednesday morning) and is neck and neck with Ohtani in home runs 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 is when a player leads their league (American or National) in batting average, home runs and RBI in a single season. 

Two of those stats make stat nerds yawn, but the feat still deserves to be recognized a tough and outstanding feat to accomplish. It has only happened 18 times in baseball history - and we’re going back to 1878 when rules were very different for this total. 

That’s less frequent than a perfect game, which has happened 24 times. 

The most recent player to win the Triple Crown was Tigers first baseman and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera in 2012. He led the league with a .330 average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs. 

While a dozen years is already a good amount of time, let’s keep in mind that Cabrera’s Triple Crown is the only one since 1967 and no National League player has won it since 1937. 

So Ozuna would make history in a few ways if he were to do it. 

Now, there’s the added benefit of Ohtani’s flip to the National League. This can be a race to the finish - a McGwire-Sosa-type deal. A race to be the first to do something since before the Second World War; when Lou Gehrig was still adding to his Iron Man streak and the Braves were a team in Boston. 

So, start to check in on this race from time to time. It’s not talked about enough, and it’s a race the game needs to turn heads in the sports world.