MLB Cy Young Award Winners 2011: Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw Wrong Choice for Honor

In what should have been one of the closest votes this award season, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was a runaway for the National League Cy Young award. 

Kershaw received 27 of a possible 32 first-place votes. Roy Halladay finished second with four and Ian Kennedy (what?!) received one. 

There were a number of great candidates, but Kershaw's peripheral numbers put him over the top to those voters who are too lazy to take the time to actually go over the candidates and determine who was the best pitcher in the league in 2011. 

Kershaw definitely had a great season and one that would have been worthy of the award in almost any other season, but Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay was the best and most dominant pitcher in the National League in 2011. 

No one can deny Kershaw's greatness, and that is not what I am trying to do. But diving deeper into the numbers that directly reflect what a pitcher was able to do on the mound, it is clear that Halladay should have gotten the award. 

The only number that Kershaw had a distinct advantage over Halladay was in victories (21 to 19), but judging a pitcher based on wins is pointless. John Lackey won 12 games despite being the worst starting pitcher in baseball this season. 

Where Halladay separates himself from Kershaw is the fact that he posted a virtually identical ERA (2.28 for Kershaw, 2.35 for Halladay), better FIP (2.20 to 2.47), xFIP (2.71 to 2.84), significantly better WAR (8.2 to 6.8) and he did that primarily pitching in one of the worst pitchers' parks in the National League. 

Kershaw, on the other hand, had the luxury of pitching a majority of his games in three of the best pitchers' parks in baseball—Dodgers Stadium, Petco Park in San Diego and AT&T Park in San Francisco—against two of the worst offensive teams (San Diego and San Francisco).

The biggest thing working against Halladay is the fact that he already has two Cy Young awards, including last year's, and he's regarded as the best pitcher in baseball.

We expect Halladay to be great, so when someone else has a great year, like Kershaw, you take notice of that more than another great performance from "Doc."

Kershaw is a solid choice for the award, but Halladay was the best choice.