Carlos Gonzalez: Triple Crown is in Sight for Colorado Rockies Slugger

 

By Michael Moraitis--Featured Columnist
Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelmoraitis

Carlos Gonzalez's National League-leading 20th home run on Father's Day not only helped propel the Colorado Rockies to victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, but it also furthered his quest to become the second Triple Crown winner in two seasons.

The last, of course, was  Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012.

Gonzalez is having a monster start to the 2013 campaign with 20 homers, 56 RBI and a .316 average.

In regard to his Triple Crown hopes, Gonzalez leads the NL in homers and he's second in RBIs by a margin of three behind the leader, Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The biggest hurdle Gonzalez faces is in the average department.

Granted, his .316 average is impressive to say the least for someone with Gonzalez's power, but it pales in comparison to NL leader Yadier Molina's .352 mark. Also ahead of Gonzalez is teammate Troy Tulowitzki (.347) and five other players who are hitting between .317 and .332.

It might look like a tall order for Gonzalez to get ahead in the average category but he did hit .336 in 2010, so finishing with such a high mark isn't out of the question. On top of that, both Molina and Tulowitzki have never hit higher than .315 in any season of their respective careers so there's a great chance both of their incredible averages will come down before season's end.

And as long as Gonzalez can continue to improve his mark, he should find himself smack dab in the middle of a batting title race at season's end barring a fantastic finish by any of the players currently above him. The same goes for both the home run and RBI races.

Besides just raw talent and a great ability to hit the baseball, Gonzalez plays in a ballpark that hitters can only dream about playing in. Coors Field is one of the best places to hit in Major League Baseball and that's an advantage Gonzalez can use to help his record-chasing cause.

Becoming a Triple Crown winner is one of the most difficult things to do in sports, but keep an eye on Gonzalez this season because he's formulating the kind of numbers to make it happen.

If he can accomplish that feat, Gonzalez would be the first National League player since 1937 to do so (per Baseball-Reference.com).