Max Scherzer is leaps-and-bounds better than the other pitchers in the game – Zack Greinke's ERA is more than a quarter-run better than Scherzer's – but the heights of his performance more than make up for whatever difference exists. Scherzer at his best is the very best in baseball right now, and his back-to-back starts against Milwaukee and Pittsburgh cemented him the first-half Cy Young, even as Greinke works on a scoreless streak nearing 30 innings. While the top of the NL ballot is close, Greinke's higher groundball rate couldn't overcome Scherzer's superior strikeout and walk rates as well as the beyond-belief line of opposing hitters: .