Chicago Cubs Star Pitcher Strongly Pushing for NL Cy Young

The National League Cy Young race is heating up as the Chicago Cubs star pitcher is having his best season ever.

For anyone who follows the Major League Baseball awards, the NL Cy Young is one of the few that is wide open.

Different pitchers have been favored to win the award throughout the season then faded from the top after a poor stretch of play.

One player making a strong push for the award down the stretch is Chicago Cubs' star pitcher Justin Steele.

He's having the best season of his career, holding a 13-3 record and ERA of 2.79 during his 22 starts. The lefty is also tied with the most wins in the National League and is second in ERA behind Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres.

Steele has been a rock on the mound for the Cubs.

Manager David Ross said, "It's nice to have him in your rotation. He's going to be the same guy every single day, right? I have no worries about that."

Nice would be an understatement.

He's arguably been the best pitcher in the National League even as he stays under the radar. One of those reasons is the lack of strikeouts. Entering Monday, he's tied for 19th in the NL with 120. In comparison, the top nine all have over 150 strikeouts.

However, that shouldn't overshadow the incredible season he's having on the mound.

Steele has only allowed over three runs twice and has shutout the opposing lineup during his innings five times.

"I definitely learned a lot from last season and even the season before,” the star pitcher said. “And I put a lot of work into this offseason and preparing my body to go 162 and hopefully more."

He's already gone over his career high for innings thrown during a season. If he continues his dominant play that he's had, he should seriously be considered for the Cy Young award.