NL Cy Young

Unlike the in the American League, where Johan Santana and Roy Halladay are dueling it out for the best pitcher in the league (with Justin Verlander slowing as of late and Jonathan Papelbon not getting many chances to close out games in Boston recently), the National League doesn't have a realistic front runner (or two).

Some people would argue that Carlos Zambrano is the front runner as he leads all NL pitchers with fourteen wins, 180 strikeouts combined with a moderate ERA of 3.31, the only downer being his 99 walks to go with the strikeouts. But you don't need to look far for a vast number of pitchers with similar stats over the season.

Unlike in 2003, when Eric Gagne won the Cy-young award (leading all , and this year in the AL, there are no jaw-dropping closers. Gagne finished with 55 saves from 55 opportunities in 2003, where as, this year, Trevor Hoffman leads the NL with 34 saves (with 33 games to go). This means that the likely winner of this prestigious award will be a starter, so lets see who's in contention.

We've already mentioned about Zambrano, but the NL Central also hosts contenders Aaron Harang, and Chris Carpenter (current Cy-young pitcher), with Bronson Arroyo and Chris Capuano closing in too. Then there's Brandon Webb of Arizona who's kept Arizona in the hunt throughout the season, and John Smoltz, who has lost just once in his past fourteen starts with twelve on the season, and ranks second in strikeouts in the national league, and unlike Zambrano has only walked 40 for the year so far. And then of course, don't count out Rookie Jason Johnson with his league leading 2.90 era. He may be slightly behind Zambrano in wins with eleven, but he's definitely worth a look-in for the award.

For now, Zambrano has the edge, but if any of these pitchers can continue to be dominant over their last 7 starts then they will likely move themselves to the front of the line in the Cy-young voting. With the Cubs way out of contention already, and Arizona, St. Louis and Cincinnati all in contention for post season, and Florida and Atlanta still with a glimmer of hope, Zambrano's hold on the top spot doesn't look too secure, but who's to know what the month of September has in store.

For the Braves however, Smoltz has once again proved to be the rock of stability needed to keep them in the playoff race, and now that Atlanta have addressed their bullpen needs, Smoltz seems to be set to make a push not just for the Cy-young award, but for a chance to extend his lead as the post season's all time winningest pitcher.