Last week, we went over why Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant is the odds-on favorite to win the National League Most Valuable Player award, moving ahead of his teammate Anthony Rizzo, Cubs enemy Daniel Murphy and others.



While the NL Cy Young looks to be a far more competitive race, not just two but three Cubs pitchers have a puncher’s chance of claiming the award: Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, and Jon Lester. Right now, none of the three look like a favorite and with three to four starts remaining, it’s hard to see if any of them can separate themselves.



Arrieta (17-6, 2.91), last year’s Cy Young Award winner, has seen his strikeout rate decrease (-3.3 percent), his walk rate increase (+4.1 percent), and his earned run average increase (+1.14), as of Monday, versus his winning 2015 campaign. But Arrieta leads the NL in wins (which still carry weight with some voters) and also ranks highly in ERA (10th) and...