NL Cy Young Race

As the baseball season winds down, the playoff races and award races come down to the wire.  One of the more tightly contested awards right now is the NL Cy Young award.  At this point in the season, the finalists have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and right now the winner will come from from a group of three pitchers.  Two are teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw.  The other one in the race is Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta.

Zack Greinke has been consistently unbelievable all season long.  Greinke currently holds an 18-3 record with a 1.65 ERA, which is not only the lowest in the NL, but the Majors.  Greinke was also the NL's starting pitcher in the All-Star game held in Cincinnati.

If Greinke were to win the Cy Young, it would not be his first rodeo.  In 2009, he won the AL Cy Young when he pitched for the Kansas City Royals, aganist Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez in a landslide.

The amazing thing is, is that Greinke might not even be the Dodgers' ace.  The other Cy Young candidate on the Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw.  Kershaw has compiled a 14-7 record with a 2.18 ERA.

Kershaw has been considered by some to be the best pitcher in the MLB since he entered the league seven years ago in 2008, outside of the playoffs where he has mightily struggled. I couldn't agree more with that statement.  A good example of his greatness can be seen by the accolades and awards that he has earned.  He has been an All-Star the past five years, won a Gold Glove, Cy Young, and the pitching triple crown in 2011 alone.  He is a three time Cy Young Award winner including 2011, 2013 and 2014.  In 2014, he also won the MVP which is the first time a pitcher did that since the legendary Bob Gibson did it in 1968.  He also also twice been the NL wins and strikeout leaders.  He also won the 2012 Roberto Clemente Award, showing he is also a great person off the field.  Oh, and he's twenty-seven years old.

Last but not least, is the Cubs' Jake Arrieta.  Arrieta has a 19-3 record and a 1.96 ERA.   Arrieta came in to the year not very well known outside of Cubs fans and Wrigley Field.  In the off season, the Cubs signed Jon Lester to a 6-year, 155 million dollar contract to be the Cubs' ace, but Arrieta has instead emerged as the ace.  All the Cubs had to do to get Arrieta was trade Steve Clevenger and Scott Feldman to get him and Pedro Strop.  He has had an unbelievable second half of the season , with a no-hitter aganist the Dodgers and a 0.95 with one loss coming aganist Cole Hamels when he threw a no-hitter for the Phillies.

As of right now, I hope Arrieta wins it as a Cubs fan, but I think that Greinke will and should.  People think the Dodger vote will be split, but I think that Greinke will still win, and Arrieta will be the runner-up, with Kershaw in third.