St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt making a serious run at Triple Crown

Paul Goldschmidt is making a legitimate run at one baseball’s most hallowed prizes: The Triple Crown. The question is: Can he do it?

Paul Goldschmidt is in the midst of putting together a historic season. It is truly becoming one of the stunning offensive performances I have every seen by a St Louis Cardinals player since I became a fan in 1967. A National League MVP is certainly within his grip.

However, as I write this on Aug. 22, Goldschmidt finds himself in making a serious run for one of baseball’s most coveted and rare achievements, The Triple Crown. In the history of the game only 18 players have won this crown.

The Triple Crown refers to when a player leads the league in the statistical categories of home runs, RBI, and batting average. The last Triple Crown winner in baseball was Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Cabrera was the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

Both Cabrera and Yastrzemski won the American League Triple Crown. The National League Triple Crown has not been achieved since Joe Medwick of the Cardinals won it in 1937.

Many great players have come and gone, and never won The Triple Crown. Some of those names include Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Barry Bonds. It is a truly rare feat.

Now let’s look at Goldy’s Triple Crown stats as the Cardinals enter a five game series against the Chicago Cubs. The Triple Crown seems certainly within his grasp.

Paul Goldschmidt’s average, home runs, and RBI

Paul Goldschmidt currently leads the National League with a .340 BA, the closest player to him is Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers with a .324 BA.

Goldschmidt is second in Home Runs with 31, only trialing Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies who has 34.

In RBI, Goldschmidt only trials Pete Alonzo of the Mets by 2. Alonzo has 102 and Goldy has 100.

Yet, it’s the other offensive categories which makes Paul Goldschmidt such a remarkable offensive machine in 2022. He currently leads the National League in OBP(.422), slugging (.636), OPS (1.059), and OPS+ (202).

His other metrics are just as impressive. He leads the NL in rOBA( .454). WPA (4.7%), oWAR (6.9) and BAbip (.383). Of course only BA, HR, and RBI count toward The Triple Crown. Nevertheless these metrics are contributory to gaining the Triple Crown and point to  Goldschmidt’s dominance in 2022.

Can Paul Goldschmidt win the Triple Crown?

We have to admit, history is against Paul Goldschmidt. After all, even Albert Pujols never won a Triple Crown. Even so, at his current pace, no one should count Goldschmidt out.

It seems like Goldschmidt has been on mission since May. During the second half of the season he has picked up steam and doesn’t look to be slowing down. His BA during the second half is .378 and currently .406 in August.

So to answer my question: Can he do it? Yes, I think he can.