The Red Sox designated hitter has homered in four straight games entering Thursday, including a grand slam against the Marlins on Wednesday to break open the game and lead the Sox to victory.
Ortiz leads the Red Sox in home runs with 18, but he’s far from a one-trick pony. He also leads the team in RBIs (49) and is in right near the top of batting average (.313) as well.
Judging by the monster numbers being put up around the league by the likes of Josh Hamilton and Adam Dunn, Big Papi may have a tough time battling for the AL Triple Crown. However, he’s certainly more than capable of contending for the lead in all three categories for the Red Sox all season long.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is his nearest competitor for home runs and Mike Aviles is hot on his trail for RBIs, but Papi does have a comfortable lead in both of those categories. It’s the batting average that might be most difficult to keep at the top of the team’s stat sheet, considering the hot starts Daniel Nava and Will Middlebrooks are off to so far in 2012.
The team is nearly to the All-Star break and Ortiz is in the hunt for a team-only Triple Crown. Can he keep it up all year long?
How many Triple Crown categories will David Ortiz end up leading the Red Sox in?
