posted June 28, 2005 at 11:23 EST in Triple Crown Articles

Afleet Alex couldn’t do it. Can Derrek Lee? The Chicago Cubs’ first baseman is having a career year to say the least. Lee is in the top three of all Triple Crown categories in the National League thus far this season: batting average, home runs and runs batted in. Coming off a season in which he hit 32 bombs and drove in 98 runs, Lee was expected to help shoulder some of the offensive load that Sammy Sosa took with him to Baltimore. But, could anyone have predicted this? Not at all. Considering Lee never hit as high as .280 in the major leagues, it’s a little startling to see him flirting with .380 in June.

Derrek started his career in San Diego. After only a few games with the Padres, he landed with the Florida Marlins in 1998, the year after they won a World Series. Though Florida struggled year after year, Lee began to establish himself as a solid hitter. In 2003, the team won the title and Lee bagged himself a well-deserved Gold Glove award. However, he was traded following the dream season to Chicago in exchange for Hee Seop Choi.

With the Cubs, Lee posted slightly better numbers than with the Marlins in 2003. No one was complaining about his 2004 numbers, but Lee knew he had to step it up in 2005. He has slowly blossomed into the only first baseman that can rival Albert Pujols for bragging rights in the NL.

So can he pull it off? Not likely. Lee would have to remain healthy, avoid any kind of slump and fend off several top hitters in all three categories. It’s a major undertaking and one that hasn’t been done in several decades. Nevertheless, we wish him luck and will enjoy checking the league’s leaders all season long. As for the Cubs? Well, let’s just say they don’t have good of a chance of making the playoffs as Lee has at winning one of the three major offensive categories.