Shohei Ohtani, Marcell Ozuna are both racing for the Triple Crown

The National League has not had a triple crown winner (leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI all in the same season) since Joe Medwick won it for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1937 season. 

That is an extensive drought, but there are two players — Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves — that are both within striking distance of accomplishing it this season. 

One of them (Ohtani) has been getting attention for it all year, while the other (Ozuna) has received significantly less fanfare for it. 

Entering play on Tuesday they were both among the top three in each offensive category, with Ohtani leading the league in home runs (36), sitting second in RBI (85) and third in the batting race (.298).

Ozuna, meanwhile, was second in batting average (.302) just one point back of Luis Arraez, second in home runs (just one back of Ohtani) and leading the league in RBI (90). For all of the attention Ohtani has received for his triple crown pursuit, Ozuna is actually statistically closer entering play on Tuesday. 

It is going to be a fascinating race the rest of the way to see if either one of them can accomplish it. It is not going to be easy, especially as each player is having a dominant year at the plate, while they both have to compete with Arraez (winner of back-to-back batting titles) for the batting crown. 

The one thing Ohtani has not done on an individual level in the majors is win a batting title, and if he is able to do that along with a triple crown he would only further cement his status as one of the best baseball players of all-time.

While the National League has not had a triple crown winner since 1937, there have been a handful of American League players to accomplish it since then. That list includes Ted Williams (1942 and 1947), Mickey Mantle (1956), Frank Robinson (1966), Carl Yastrzemski (1967) and, most recently, Miguel Cabrera (2012).