This season has been the year of the pitcher in the National League. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs have had the best pitchers in the NL, and one of those teams will take home the exclusive CY Young award.

But who will it be? Jake Arrieta, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw have been by far the top three pitchers in the NL. Run support won't be a factor in this argument as the Cubs and Dodgers rank 17th and 18th overall in runs scored. Here we make the case for each pitcher and let you decide on who should win the NL CY Young award.

Jake Arrieta

Of course Arrieta is the CY Young favorite. Arrieta has a league high 21 wins this year, and his Chicago Cubs have been the 'must watch' team of this season. Arrieta also has a league high four complete games pitched this year, and his 1.82 ERA pretty much speaks for itself. There's also another factor to consider here; Arrieta pitches in a much more difficult division. The Cubs routinely go up against the Pittsburgh Pirates and first place St. Louis Cardinals.

Arrieta has won his last 12 consecutive starts. His last loss came against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25. Kershaw has been great this year once again, but he did struggle a bit early in the season. Arrieta has allowed just 10 home runs this entire season, fewer than Greinke and Kershaw.

Zack Greinke

Arrieta may lead the league in wins, but Greinke has the most important statistic on his side. Greinke has the best ERA in all of baseball this year, an incredible 1.68. Greinke also has a better overall win percentage than Arrieta. Arrieta is 21-6 whereas Greinke is 18-3. Think about that for a second. That means that Arrieta has twice as many losses as Greinke does this year on the mound.

If you had one game to win, the numbers back up Greinke more than Arrieta. Greinke only has one loss since July, and has only allowed three runs once in a game during that time span. More than likely this will come down to Greinke and Arrieta.

Clayton Kershaw

The three time CY Young award winner isn't out of this just yet. He didn't get off to his usual start, but he's been on a tear lately. Kershaw pitched a gem on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants to clinch another National League west title. Kershaw leads the league in strikeouts with 102 more than Greinke. His 229 innings pitched also lead the majors.

Greinke and Arrieta have a combined three complete game shutouts while Kershaw alone has four. When Kershaw is playing at the top of his game, he is by far the best pitcher in the league with his arsenal of pitches.

Who do you think is the NL CY Young winner? Vote in our fan poll below.