Triple Crown in sight for Vladimir Jr.?

We have many evaluation tools at our disposal these days – many ways to learn about a player’s impact on your team and much more. The Triple Crown – leading the league in home runs, RBIs and batting average – is one of the oldest measuring sticks out there. In the 2021 season, that condition is held by a great player.

Dominican Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrived on Friday in second place in the American League in RBIs (66), in addition to being tied for the home run lead (26) of that circuit and second in average (.336).

The last player to win a Triple Crown batting was Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Before him, no one had done it since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

The youngest Triple Crown winner was Ted Williams in 1942, when he was 23 years old. Guerrero, who is 22 years old this entire season, would be the youngest. (Ty Cobb accomplished the feat in 1909 at age 22, but the RBI statistic was not yet official.) Here, a bit of context in that fight for the Triple Crown, with the help of the Elias Sports Bureau.

Topping a league at this height … or close

Since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920, there have been 61 times a player has ranked within the top three of his league in all three lines at the start of July. Of those 61, six won the Triple Crown: Yastrzemski in 1967, Mickey Mantle in 1956, Joe Medwick in 1937, Chuck Klein in 1933, Rogers Hornsby in 1925, and Hornsby in 1922.

There were 55 who did not make it. Since 2010, there have been five players who finished in the top three of the statistics starting July before Guerrero and none did: Cody Bellinger in 2019, Aaron Judge in 2017, Cabrera in 2013, Chris Davis in 2013 and Matt Kemp in 2011.

The youngest Triple Crown winner was Ted Williams in 1942, when he was 23 years old. Guerrero, who is 22 years old this entire season, would be the youngest. (Ty Cobb accomplished the feat in 1909 at age 22, but the RBI statistic was not yet official.) Here, a bit of context in that fight for the Triple Crown, with the help of the Elias Sports Bureau.

Topping a league at this height … or close

Since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920, there have been 61 times a player has ranked within the top three of his league in all three lines at the start of July. Of those 61, six won the Triple Crown: Yastrzemski in 1967, Mickey Mantle in 1956, Joe Medwick in 1937, Chuck Klein in 1933, Rogers Hornsby in 1925, and Hornsby in 1922.

There were 55 who did not make it. Since 2010, there have been five players who finished in the top three of the statistics starting July before Guerrero and none did: Cody Bellinger in 2019, Aaron Judge in 2017, Cabrera in 2013, Chris Davis in 2013 and Matt Kemp in 2011.

But Guerrero is not only in the AL’s top three, he’s also in the top three in the majors in home runs, RBIs and average. He is the sixth player in the Divisional Era (since 1969) to be among the top three players in MLB in those categories, beginning July, alongside Bellinger in 2019, Cabrera in 2013, Lance Berkman in 2008, Luis González in the 2001 and the Cuban Tany Pérez in 1970.

The only players to win the Major League Triple Crown (not just in their league) have been Mantle in 1956, Williams in 1942, Lou Gehrig in 1934 and Hornsby in 1925.

There’s a lot of season to go, but Guerrero’s great plate discipline and MVP season gives him a valid chance to add another achievement to the record book.

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