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Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani keeps making headlines. Not only did he recently become the fastest in MLB history to reach 40 homers and 40 steals in the same season (in grand fashion), but he's again throwing off the mound as he recovers from elbow surgery. 

Let's add another wrinkle here, because Ohtani has a shot to do something that hasn't been done since 1937: Win the Triple Crown in the National League. 

The Triple Crown means leading the league in the traditional "big three" stats: batting average, home runs and RBI. Ohtani currently leads the league in home runs (by four) and RBI (he's tied for the lead). His .292 batting average is seventh, but it's within reasonable striking range of the top:

1. Marcell Ozuna, .305
2. Luis Arráez, .303
3. Ketel Marte, .298
4. Trea Turner, .301 (Turner doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, but if you give him outs for every at-bat needed to get there, he drops to fourth place)
5. Alec Bohm, .294
6. Luis García Jr., 293
7. Ohtani, .292

Ohtani went through a bit of a slump in the last month, but he's now hitting .333 in his last five games, so maybe he's picking it back up and has a real shot at this thing. It should be noted that Ozuna is tied with Ohtani in RBI and is in second place in home runs, so he actually has a chance at the Triple Crown as well.

In major-league history, there have been 28 Triple Crown winners: 

  • 1 in the American Association (Tip O'Neill)
  • 11 in Negro Leagues (including three for Oscar Charleston and two for Josh Gibson, two of the greatest baseball players ever to walk the planet)
  • 10 in the American League, including the four most recent (Mickey Mantle in 1956, Frank Robinson in 1966, Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and Miguel Cabrera in 2012)
  • 6 in the National League, most recently 1937 (Hall of Famer Joe "Ducky" Medwick)

We actually aren't too far off from the century mark since an NL player has won the Triple Crown. 

Moving forward, the Dodgers have a relatively weak schedule. In their 31 remaining games, their opponent winning percentage is .490 (23rd in MLB). They have six games left against the Rockies, including three at Coors Field. They also have three left against the Marlins and two against the Angels. 

It's off-the-charts fun to track what Ohtani is doing on a daily basis anyway, but the Triple Crown race adds yet another layer.