MLB Awards Watch: Top 5 NL Cy Young candidates thru April

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Clayton Kershaw has not been his usual Claw-like self in 2015. He has a losing record at 1-2, is toying with an ERA in the 4.0 range (3.73) after five starts and a BAA of .267 this season.

Last year, he spent much of April on the disabled list but then burst ahead of all other National League pitching contenders for the award with an incredible 27 start season that saw him produce a WAR of 7.5, missing a pitching Triple Crown by only four strikeouts and netting himself an NL MVP to go on the mantle with his three Cy Young awards.

While a few of Kershaw’s numbers are askew, he is still striking hitters out at an incredible pace. His 43 punch outs in only 31.1 innings of work equates to a K/9 of 12.35, the best for any NL starter with at least 20 innings logged.

While the best southpaw the league has to offer might be mildly on the outside looking in for a repeat of the award this season, he is still very much in the conversation with five months of baseball left to be played. But right now, Kershaw’s high ERA and lack of wins provide him only with honorable mention.

Once summer rolls around, so too should Kershaw’s A-game and he’ll likely be inside the top three on a list similar to this. Until then, we speculate as to which underdog out there is currently in the best position to dethrone The Claw from winning his third consecutive prestigious pitching award.

Honorable mentions con’t: CHC Jake Arrieta (3-1, 2.03, 25 K), STL Michael Wacha (4-0, 2.42, 16 K) and WAS Max Scherzer (1-2, 1.26, 29 K)

Next: James Shields