Going into the last series of the regular season, there was still plenty of debate about who should win the Cy Young award as baseball's best pitcher. Two of those candidates were on the mound in important games.

After Dallas Keuchel and Zack Greinke each turned in gems on Friday and Saturday, respectively, there should be very little doubt about who is the best pitcher in both leagues.

The National League boasts three phenomenal pitchers. Greinke's teammate Clayton Kershaw has been the most dominant and Jake Arrieta has been magnificent in the second half of the season.

And then there's Greinke. He has probably gotten the least publicity of the three, but he has been the best nonetheless.

On Saturday, he clinched home field for his Dodgers in the NLDS against the Mets by holding the Padres to one run in eight innings.

With the win, Greinke improved his record to 19-3. He has lasted at least six innings in all 31 of his starts. His ERA has started with a "1" for every single day of the season. Only six times all season did Greinke give up more than two runs in a start.

But all of that has gone under the radar thanks to Kershaw's strikeout flurry and Arrieta's second-half magic.

While Kershaw finishes the season with a career-high 294 strikeouts and Arrieta's 0.75 second-half ERA is the best of all time, Greinke has put together the most complete, consistent season.

Oh, and his stats are wonderful as well. Of the three, Greinke has the lowest ERA, adjusted ERA+, Baseball-Reference WAR, WHIP and opponent OPS. Greinke also reached the 200-strikeout plateau in his final start, so it's not like he has been solely pitching to contact.

His season has been historically awesome. Greinke's microscopic 1.66 ERA is the lowest since Greg Maddux's 1.63 campaign 20 years ago, he is only the sixth pitcher since 1956 to garner at least 200 strikeouts while having an ERA below 1.70.

The American League race is just as tight, but there are only two-thirds as many contenders. Keuchel has been tremendous, as has David Price, who was acquired by the Blue Jays at the trade deadline.

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Price, who is 18-5 with a league-leading 2.45 ERA, has been a catalyst behind Toronto's AL East title run.

But Keuchel has filled the same role for the Astros, who will face the New York Yankees on Tuesday in the AL Wild Card game.

He leads the American League in wins (20-8), innings pitched (232), WAR (7.2) and is second with a 2.48 ERA.

"This guy has been as consistent as anybody," manager A.J. Hinch said, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today, after Keuchel's final regular season start. "Which is why arguably he's the best pitcher in the American League, with no disrespect to Price and some of the other starters.

"I'm prejudiced for our guy because I've seen it,'' Hinch continued. "He's been the [AL] pitcher of the month for four of the five months. He started the All-Star Game. He's pitching for the pennant race for one team."

Ralph Freso/Getty Images

And when his team needed him most - in arguably the most important game the Astros have played in the past decade - Keuchel was at his best, pitching six innings of two-run ball to beat the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Also, Keuchel leads Price in WHIP, opponent batting average, opponent OPS, quality-start percentage and WAR.

In a race this close, how the two pitchers finished the season goes a long way in determining the winner. In Price's last start of the season, he allowed five runs in five innings against the Rays.

For Keuchel, he was at his best in two high-magnitude games. He allowed one run in seven innings against the Rangers on September 27, and then beat the D-Backs on Friday night.

"There's great argument and debate, and a lot of support for Price, but they can't go wrong if they chose our guy," Hinch said. "It's just hard to argue that anybody has been more consistent and more dominant for as long as an entire season than Dallas.''

There have been tons of fabulous pitching performances in Major League Baseball this year, but in the end, the two that should hoist the Cy Young award should be the same two that toed the rubber to start the MLB All-Star Game in July.

Because when it comes to each contestant's entire body of work, Greinke and Keuchel have been the best pitchers from start to finish.

All statistics accurate through October 3 games and courtesy of Baseball-Reference, unless otherwise noted.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Heath Clary
I am a sports columnist and blogger. I mostly write about the MLB and college football, but I do a little of everything