Cy Young Award: Could Los Angeles Be Home to Both Winners?

We're just past the halfway point in the baseball season.  End of the season award predictions are starting to surface.  The Cy Young Award race looks to be especially interesting.  Why?  Los Angeles has a chance to have both the National and American League Cy Young Award winners.

At the beginning of the year I picked Dan Haren of the Angels and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.  I was going to pick Jair Jurrjens of the Braves, but crossed him off my list because Atlanta is loaded with pitchers.  After settling on Haren and Kershaw, I realized LA could realistically have two winners.

Currently, Haren, Kershaw, as well as Jered Weaver (also an Angel), are among the favorites for the Cy Young Award in their respective leagues.  Haren is 10-6 with a 3.10 ERA.  Weaver is 13-4 with a 1.81 ERA, and Kershaw is 11-4 with a 2.72 ERA.  The numbers don't lie, any of these pitchers would be excellent candidates and deserving winners.

The question is, will it actually happen? 

In the American League, Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver are undoubtedly the top two candidates. Haren is not far behind.  Ultimately, the race will come down to Verlander, Weaver and possibly C.C. Sabathia.  Weaver will probably take some votes away from Haren (I doubt many will vote Haren ahead of Weaver).  My prediction: Justin Verlander wins the Cy Young, Weaver finishes second.

In the National League, Roy Halladay, Jair Jurrjens, Cole Hamels, Tommy Hanson, Jeff Karstens and Clayton Kershaw seem to be the top candidates.  In the end, Hanson, Karstens and Hamels will likely drop out of the race, leaving a three-horse race between Halladay, Jurrjens and Kershaw.  

The National League may be Los Angeles' best shot to win a Cy Young.  Jurrjens and Halladay have been struggling of late, though Jurrjens still is third the National League in ERA (2.44) and first in wins (12). Meanwhile, Kershaw seems to be finding his groove.  In Kershaw's last two starts, he is 2-0, with 20 strikeouts in 15 innings and an ERA of zero. However, my prediction: Jurrjens wins the Cy Young and Kershaw finishes second.  

When all is said and done, Kershaw may be the more deserving candidate.  However, Jurrjens is the ace of a playoff contender.  Furthermore, baseball writers tend to value wins over ERA and strikeouts. By the end of the season, Kershaw will probably have a lower ERA and more strikeouts, but Jurrjens will have more wins.  Jurrjens is pitching for a winning team, which gives him more opportunities to win starts and thus, a better chance to win the Cy Young.

Ultimately, it looks like Los Angeles is going to have two second place finishers in the Cy  Young Award voting.  Kershaw in the National League and Weaver in the American, with Haren finishing in the top 10.  But the possibility of having two LA winners is enticing isn't it?