Harper, Goldschmidt or Cruz: Who Is MLB's Top 2015 Triple Crown Threat?

In an era when advanced metrics and reams of data give us an almost unmistakable read on a player while weeding out traditional but inefficient statistical barometers, the Triple Crown is still one of Major League Baseball's highest offensive achievements.

Only 15 players have accomplished the feat 17 times in the game's history, and it still has enough clout that winning it led to Miguel Cabrera also winning the American League MVP award in 2012 despite Mike Trout being the better player that season as measured by advanced statistics.

This season, three of the game's best hitters—Nelson Cruz, Paul Goldschmidt and Bryce Harper—are challenging to lead their respective leagues in batting average, home runs and RBI through the first two months of the season.

All are legitimate threats to keep up their paces in the trio of categories, but determining who has the best shot to produce the 18th Triple Crown in MLB history means examining their team, competition, league and history.

Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners

Cruz appears, as of now, to be the likeliest player to win a Triple Crown. He already leads the American League with 18 home runs and is tied for the lead with 38 RBI. His .337 average ranks third behind Prince Fielder and Jason Kipnis.

Cruz is a prime candidate to end up leading the league in homers and RBI (his 40 home runs with the Baltimore Orioles last season were the most in the majors and his 108 RBI were fourth), but an unsustainable average could be his undoing.

He has never hit higher than .318 in a season, and that happened in hitter-friendly Texas and in 445 plate appearances. Not counting this season, his career average is .268. His .380 BABIP shows he has been incredibly lucky and would be the best mark of his career, by far. The only time he's even approached that is in 2010 when his BABIP was .348. Otherwise, his highest mark in a full season is .301 in 2012.

A couple of other things work against Cruz's chances. First, his new home, Safeco Field, has an infamous history of suppressing power. Cruz has already found that out, as only four of his 18 homers have come at home.

Second, the Mariners' 183 runs are tied for second-fewest in the AL, and their .298 OBP is 14th. They just do not get on base enough to assist Cruz in driving in runs.

Cruz's chances at the Triple Crown might hinge on another 40-homer season and the Mariners finding some consistent offense. He likely does not have a real shot.

Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks

Goldschmidt is a solid MVP candidate in the National League. His .345 average (second), 14 homers (fourth in the league) and 42 RBI (third) this season are proof of that.

The average, though high, should hold up in the long run. Goldschmidt's BABIP is .395, and while that stands to drop sometime soon, it won't dip too far considering his last three seasonal BABIP marks are .340 in 2012, .343 in 2013 and .368 last year. His 42.9 hard-hit percentage also ranks fifth in the NL, per FanGraphs, again showing the high average is sustainable.

And the Diamondbacks have a decent offense right now. They lead the NL in runs and are fifth in OBP, ensuring Goldschmidt RBI opportunities.

While his home ballpark, Chase Field, is power friendly, three of the other four NL West ballparks—AT&T Park, Dodger Stadium and Petco Park—are certainly not. Plus the pitching staffs of those clubs are all decent at the very least, making home runs hard to come by, with James Shields' 15 home runs allowed as the exception.

The home run race in the NL is tight, too, including 12 players with 10 or more. That, coupled with the competition in Goldschmidt's division, is what will likely do in his Triple Crown hopes.

Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

Through this point of the season, Harper seems the likeliest to accomplish the Triple Crown in the National League.

He leads the league in home runs (18), is one behind Giancarlo Stanton for the RBI lead (44) and stands fourth in average (.329). Given Harper's new approach to hitting, which has him chasing less and hitting the ball harder than ever, it's likely he can keep this up as he makes his jump into the realm of elite players.

However, his health has betrayed him the past two seasons. While he has been healthy in 2015, Harper had to miss Saturday's game with what he described to reporters as "a bone bruise kinda feel" after he was drilled in the back with a fastball Friday night. He also noted it hurts to swing, and that would obviously affect his Triple Crown candidacy if the problem lingers. 

Harper has missed 107 games since the start of 2013. If injury issues creep up on him again this season, his shot at the Triple Crown is probably kaput since a handful of NL sluggers can overtake him in home runs and RBI. Stanton, Goldschmidt, Todd Frazier and even a resurgent Ryan Braun are all capable of hitting home runs in bunches.

Harper is capable of the same, though, and the Nationals rank second in the league in runs and fourth in on-base percentage, making him a constant threat even if he does miss time or fall into a power slump.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.