Baseball’s hallowed feat is achieved when a player leads their league, AL or NL, in batting average, home runs and RBIs in the same season. Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera won MLB’s final Triple Crown in 2012, snapping a decades-long drought that had stretched since Carl Yastrzemski did it for the Boston Red Sox in 1967. For much of the summer, the preeminent 2022 Triple Crown threat appeared to be the St. Louis first baseman. Louis Cardinals, Paul Goldschmidt. But just as Goldschmidt fell off the homer pace in the NL, Judge ramped up his offense to an average plate appearance in the AL. Since stating a goal to hit .300 in July, citing Cabrera’s greatness, Judge has gone supernova. He is hitting .371 since the All-Star break, by far the best among MLB qualified hitters. That raised his overall average from .284 to a career-high .317 this week. With his home run and RBI championships looking insurmountable, Judge is essentially battling a handful of AL stars for the batting title to determine whether he adds the Triple Crown to a ridiculous list of honors in 2022. So with just over a dozen games to go, we’ll be watching his pursuit here at the end of every night. Aaron Judge closes out this regular season in spectacular fashion for the AL East leading Yankees. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Is Aaron Judge in line for the Triple Crown?

Thursday, Sept. 22: YES. But it’s still close. Judge posted his first no-hitter since Sept. 7, but it’s not like the Red Sox gave him much of a chance. Judge went 0-for-2 with three walks and a strikeout. He looked like he’d hit 61 homers in his final at-bat until the ball fell just short of the center field wall, to the surprise of Yankee Stadium. Fortunately for Judge fans, Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ batting average dipped even further on an 0-for-5 night. Here’s how the average rank stands now: The story continues This comes down to the wire. Here’s how the leaderboards look now. Wednesday, Sept. 21: YES. Judge’s closest competition now is Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. After strong nights for both, Judge leads by the slimmest of margins. The leaderboards will show them both at .317, but Judge’s average is a touch higher if you move down the decimal places. Make it all more interesting? The Yankees and Red Sox begin a four-game series Thursday in the Bronx. Tuesday, Sept. 20: YES. On the same night he crushed home run No. 60 — and sparked a game-winning rally — Judge led off for the AL batting title for the first time. He started the night behind Luis Arrarez and Xander Bogaerts before going ahead thanks to a ninth-inning blast.