Boston Red Sox: Adrian Gonzalez Will Win Triple Crown with Red Sox

Adrian Gonzalez will be the first MLB player to win the triple crown in baseball since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 with his time in Boston. No one has a better chance than Gonzalez since he is on a great Boston Red Sox team.

The players around him may fade away, but these next few years are his prime and he was just getting used to Fenway in 2011. He is going to show how good he really can be in 2012 and beyond with the sweet stroke of his.

Prime Time

The youthful Adrian Gonzalez is going to turn 30 years old in May and is just starting to enter his prime, and that is exactly the time where his power numbers will shoot up into the high-40s and his RBI totals will hit the 130 or more mark.

His swing is what makes him a steady force in the Boston Red Sox lineup and it seems as if he enjoys being with the Red Sox. He wants to win a World Series with this team and he can definitely carry a team on his back for an entire month if he wanted to.

Gonzalez is just that talented with the bat and glove that no other first baseman (well maybe Albert Pujols) can put up the stats that Gonzalez can over his time with the Red Sox.

Fenway Park Swing

The Boston Red Sox are just waiting for Adrian Gonzalez to use his opposite field power more often and Fenway Park is just the right size to allow him to hit homer after homer over the Green Monster.

Fenway is one of the smallest parks in the entire MLB while Gonzalez's previous home, Petco Park, is one of the most spacious parks in the game. It was hard to see his power numbers drop in 2011, but he was dealing with a shoulder injury and, now that another offseason has passed, the shoulder should be fully healed.

Now Gonzalez can swing for the fences as much as he wants, but he also needs to make sure he is the run producer on this team and just bring the RBI in whenever he gets the chance.

Batting Average

Adrian Gonzalez's career batting average is .297 and that is thanks to his gaudy .338 average in 2011. Will he be able to hit that high every season? Probably not, but he does have the mechanics to do so.

The competition he has in the American League for average is Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Michael Young, Victor Martinez (out for entire 2012 season) and Jacoby Ellsbury.

All of these players are also able to put the ball in play plenty and are known for getting clutch hits and Pujols is just going to be a beast out in California. What you need to realize is that none of these guys has the staying power to hit .320 or more every year and the average battle could come down to who can hit .319 throughout an entire season over the next several years.

Gonzalez has a chance to keep up his batting average inside the smaller confides of Fenway and he may be walked a lot, but that won't hurt his average when he does crush a pitch over into the bleacher seats or hits the ball up the middle for a single multiple times a week.

Power Numbers

The home run derby back in 2011 really hurt Gonzalez's stroke and that is why he could not reach 30 homers for the first time since his rookie season in San Diego where he only hit 24 long balls.

The Boston Red Sox need to have him regain his form in spring training and that way he can hit the ball a mile just like he had to with the Padres.

The highest total for homers in 2011 was held by Jose Bautista with only 43 home runs. Curtis Granderson was second with 41. Albert Pujols, Mark Teixeira and Prince Fielder all finished with 37 or more.

Gonzalez should be right in the mix next season when it comes to putting up monster power numbers. He is in a smaller ballpark and he should reach at least 35 home runs. Just don't hit at anymore derbies anytime soon, Mr. Gonzalez, or you may never hit over 35 again.

RBI Totals

The Boston Red Sox are lucky to have a batter such as Adrian Gonzalez who is one of the best RBI men in the league. He drove in 117 runs in 2011 and that was only nine off the pace of Matt Kemp for the MLB lead. Prince Fielder came in second with 120 RBI. So, seeing as Fielder is now in the AL, Gonzalez is basically three off the pace of the AL leader.

Now this could all change in 2012 and beyond with Fielder in Detroit, but Gonzalez will be in contention with Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Miguel Cabrera for this title, but adding say 10 home runs to Gonzalez's 2011 total would drive in at least 10 more runs.

It is hard to drive in more than 130 runs, but Gonzalez has the skill set to do this on a nightly basis for the Red Sox and no one should doubt that he has the ability to get the job done in the triple crown department. It is just the other batters in the AL who he has to worry about.