Roy Halladay vs. Clayton Kershaw: Sizing Up the NL Cy Young Front-Runners

The Cy Young picture is coming into focus in the National League.

Everybody is zooming in on the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw.

However, they are different pitchers. East Coast versus West Coast, righty versus lefty—but both are dominant.

Let's take a look at the so-called tale of the tape and compare these two aces.

The Case for Roy Halladay

Halladay is a workhorse.

He is blowing away the National League with seven complete games and is currently first in innings pitched with 189.2.

He almost seems like a throwback to earlier days of baseball, when relief pitching was not quite so popular.

He throws a lot of pitches, but of course he gets a lot of outs while doing it.

He is third in the National League with 15 wins.

Outside of that, he is third in the National League with 182 strikeouts and fifth for his 2.56 ERA.

His 1.05 WHIP places fourth in the National League.

Another thing that he has going for him is that he won the award last year.

He has a reputation for being a dominant pitcher, and this could very well help him win this award.

The Case for Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw can overpower most hitters.

He leads the National League with 207 strikeouts. He is able to turn that performance into victories as well.

He also has 16 wins and leads the National League.

Opponents are only batting .212 against him, so that is another sign that he is simply dominating them.

His other stats are pretty impressive as well.

He's tied for first in innings pitched with 189.2.

He is also third in both ERA and complete games with stats of 2.51 and four respectively.

A solid WHIP of 1.01 places him second in the National League as well.

Kershaw has been dominant despite playing for the under-performing Los Angeles Dodgers, and he is easily in the top two for the National League Cy Young Award.

So Who Wins?

I may be a baseball writer, but I do not have a vote, unfortunately.

If I did have a vote, it would have to go to Halladay.

I tend to think of the Cy Young Award as sort of the Most Valuable Player award for pitchers.

Halladay will prove his ultimate value in the playoffs, just like he did last year.

Behind the leadership of Halladay, the Phillies will be going to the playoffs.

I realize that one player does not make the entire team and that Halladay has a much better supporting cast in Philadelphia than Kershaw does in Los Angeles.

Nevertheless, being in the playoffs gives the chance for postseason heroics, and Halladay will have that opportunity while Kershaw will not.

This increases his chances of winning votes and ultimately winning the Cy Young Award.