Roy. Doc. Cy. - Halladay responds to all three.

By Andrew Marcus

Sportswriter for Montgomery Media

amarcus@montgomerynews.com
Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515

It's the last second tail on Roy Halladay's cutter that has left 190 batters (as of 9/1/10) taking the long walk back into the dugout. The National League leading total of strike outs is just one of the many reasons the Phillies' ace has to be the front runner for the National League Cy Young Award.

In the year of the pitcher there are multiple hurlers around the league that boast phenomenal numbers. In any other year the hardware would be headed to their mantle, but this year Doc is a strong September away from his second career Cy Young Award. His league leading amount of innings, his 16 wins, and his 2.27 earned run average all support his candidacy, but it is his consistency from a month to month basis that puts him ahead of the others.

PHI RHP Roy Halladay

His earned run average never ballooned over 3.30 in a single month and still has an outside shot at 20 wins even though the run support the Phillies were expected to supply for him has not been there all season. 

Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez, St. Louis' Adam Wainwright, Atlanta's Tim Hudson, and Florida's Josh Johnson will get some consideration from the voters, but they have all gone through rough months, something the 2003 Cy Young winner with Toronto has not done.

Jimenez' ERA has been above four since the All-Star break, Hudson has been solid all year but does not have Ks and innings of Doc and Josh Johnson is missing the wins thanks to a subpar bullpen and recent mediocre outings. Wainwright, might have the best chance to supplant Halladay as the Cy favorite, but has recently hit his toughest stretch of the year.

The odds were in Halladay's favorite to win the award before the season started, coming from a .500 team in the American League East to many's preseason favorite to make it three-straight World Series appearances. Doc has not got the runs the experts expected and may not reach the 20-win milestone, but he still has been the best in the National League this season.

Here's the top 5 candidates stats. (as of 9/1/10)

Roy Halladay PHI 16-10, 214 IP, 2.27 ERA, 190Ks

Adam Wainwright STL 17-9 195 IP, 2.30 ERA, 178Ks
Ubaldo Jimenez COL 17-5, 176 IP, 2.71 ERA, 160Ks

Tim Hudson ATL 15-5, 184 IP, 2.24 ERA, 109Ks

Josh Johnson FLA 11-5, 177 IP, 2.28 ERA, 174Ks

With one one month left in the season before playoff baseball begins Roy Halladay is not the only award winner that is starting to separate themselves from the pack and become the apparent choice. Here are my predicted winners from around the league.

NL MVP - Joey Votto (CIN)

NL Rookie of the Year - Jamie Garcia (STL)

NL Manager of the Year - Bud Black (SD)

NL Comeback POY - Tim Hudson (ATL)

TB LHP David Price

AL Cy Young - David Price (TB)

AL MVP - Josh Hamilton (TEX)

AL Rookie of the Year - Austin Jackson (DET)

AL Manager of the Year - Terry Francona (BOS)

AL Comeback POY - Colby Lewis (TEX)

Click HERE to read my recent column in the Perkasie News-Herald about pitch counts.