Clayton Kershaw: Why Los Angeles Dodgers Ace Deserves 2011 NL Cy Young

Run and hide, Roy Halladay. Clear the way, Johnny Cueto. Let it be, Cliff Lee.

Clayton Kershaw is taking the NL Cy Young Award this year.

Los Angeles Dodgers' ace registered another gem on Monday night, going the distance while allowing only six hits and two walks while striking out five.

Granted, this latest performance came against the punchless San Diego Padres, but the putridity of the opposition does little to diminish the brilliance with which Kershaw has pitched this season.

The 23-year-old lefty from Dallas, Texas has finally put together his considerable pitching talent with a deep knowledge of how to fool hitters at the plate, just as the Blue Crew thought he would when they made him the seventh overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft.

Five years later, the Dodgers have themselves the best pitcher in the National League—if not all of baseball.

With that in mind, let's have a closer look at why Kershaw is clearly the front-runner to win the NL Cy Young in 2011.

He's Durable

Clayton Kershaw's campaign for the NL's pitching crown begins with his durability.

The Dodgers ace leads the league with 198.2 innings pitched through 28 starts. Twenty of those have been quality starts, with four complete games (two shutouts) among them.

That puts Kershaw at just over seven innings per start without having missed a single game in which he was scheduled to pitch thus far.

With that sort of consistency and longevity in games, Kershaw will have at least secured the support of the Dodgers' bullpen pitchers, who can expect a pretty easy night anytime he takes the mound.

He's Unhittable

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly doesn't just leave Kershaw on the mound for seven innings per start just because he feels like it.

In short, the guy's been practically unhittable this season.

Kershaw has held opposing batters to a .211 batting average in 2011, tying him for fourth-best in the NL in that regard. Hitters have also managed an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of only .569—the best in the NL and second to only Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers in all of baseball. 

In the process, Kershaw has racked up 212 strikeouts. That is 19 more than Tim Lincecum's second-best total, putting him at an impressive 9.67 strikeouts per nine innings—second behind only Zack Greinke of the Milwaukee Brewers.

On the rare occasion that a hitter does make contact against Kershaw, the ball doesn't usually go very far. Kershaw has kept 58.1 percent of his opponents' batted balls within the infield, either as ground balls or infield flies.

This, despite a fastball that usually tops out in the low-90s.

He's Winning Games on a Bad Team

Perhaps more remarkable than either Kershaw's durability or the fits he gives other batters is the fact that he's leading the NL in wins despite playing for a Dodgers team that currently sits at 63-70, in fourth place in the NL West and a full 12 games back of the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

And while having a poor record doesn't necessarily preclude a team from putting runs on the board, the Dodgers haven't exactly been productive at the plate (at least over the course of the season).

The Dodgers have scored the fourth fewest runs of any team in the NL, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres, so it's not as though they're holding down real estate on Murderers' Row.

As such, Kershaw has taken the mound each night knowing full well that he might not get much run support and has still managed to accumulate 17 wins in 28 starts, with the Dodgers going home happy 19 times.

He's Pitching Well Despite Youth and Distractions

Kershaw's uplifting performance has come amidst a particularly trying season for the Dodgers. No one will readily admit it, but LA has suffered tremendously on the field from the ongoing legal woes of owner Frank McCourt.

Despite being just 23 years old, Kershaw has managed to shut out the distraction and damage to the club wrought by the McCourt divorce and ensuing media circus, even when it's been shoved in his face.

In a recent appearance on Jim Rome is Burning on ESPN, Kershaw was battered with questions about the McCourt fiasco.

He demonstrated incredible maturity with the way in which he deflected Rome's barbs, retuning the focus of the discussion to the ace's on-field exploits; which, if you haven't noticed, have been much more impressive than the amount of money spent by Frank and Jamie McCourt on their lawyers. 

He's a Statistical Marvel

If nothing else, Kershaw deserves the Cy Young because he very well could become only the 16th person in NL history to claim the pitching Triple Crown.

As of now, Kershaw leads the league in wins and strikeouts and is second in ERA (2.45) behind only Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto (2.05).

However, Cueto has made seven fewer starts than Kershaw this season. Kershaw still leads the league in ERA among starters with at least 26 starts, ahead of even Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay (2.56).

No pitcher has secured the Triple Crown since Jake Peavy led the NL in all three categories with the Padres in 2007.

By the way, since the advent of the Cy Young Award in 1967, every pitcher who has claimed the Triple Crown in either league has come away with the distinction as the best in his respective league.

So, if nothing else, pencil in Kershaw as the Cy Young winner by way of historical precedent.