Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani just barely missed on yet another laurel in his record-setting 2024 season. Ohtani, who came into Game 162 on Sunday four points behind Luis Arraez’s National League-leading batting average, finished in second place in that race. That means leaves Joe Medwick of the 1937 Cardinals as the NL’s last Triple Crown winner. Ohtani’s 54 home runs are 15 more than any other player in the NL. His 130 RBI are 18 more than anyone else. He has massive leads in those two categories.
As recently as Sept. 18, Ohtani was hitting .287 and well behind Arraez and his league-leading .320 batting average. Ohtani then closed the gap with one of the most insane hot streaks in recent memory: 26 for 39 (.667) in nine games heading into Sunday. Arraez went 5 for 28 (.179) during that time, including 0 for 12 in a three-game series against the Dodgers, which further closed the gap.
Ohtani went 2 for 5 on Saturday to add another point to his batting average, while Arraez did not play. Despite the fact that the Padres are locked into the top wild-card spot, Arraez did return to the lineup Sunday while other regular rested ahead of the playoffs. He went 1 for 3 with a double in the sixth inning before being pulled.
Ohtani would have needed to go at least 3 for 4 while Arraez went 0 for 4 on Sunday. That would have pushed Ohtani’s average up to .31289 and Arraez’s down to .31191. Instead, MLB’s first 50-50 man went 1 for 4.
The last player to win the Triple Crown was future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, who hit .330 with 44 home runs and 139 RBI for the 2012 Tigers. Since RBI became an official statistic in 1920, 10 players have won a total of 12 Triple Crowns. Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams each did it twice.
Arraez has now won three consecutive batting titles with three different teams: the 2022 Twins, the 2023 Marlins and the 2024 Padres. He’s the first Padre to win since Tony Gwynn in 1997.
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