Realistically, I've pretty much given up hope of Dontrelle winning the Cy Young Award this season. If I'm not sold that he deserves it, it's hard to expect the voters to be sold on it. Chris Carpenter and Roger Clemens are having phenomenal years. Plus, Dontrelle had that little blip right around the All-Star break.
But there is one award that Dontrelle is on the fast track to win this year: the Warren Spahn Award. This is a newer award, created with Spahn's input. What makes it somewhat better than most other awards is that there's specific criteria and a formula required to win it.
I heard on the radio last night that Dontrelle is the current leader for this year's award (though I could find no web-based evidence of this), so if he keeps up his performance over the rest of the year, he could win it (the award's previous winners are Randy Johnson [4 times], Andy Pettite, and Johan Santana).
How is Dontrelle going to win this award over the likes of Clemens and Carpenter? Well, that's simple: the Spahn Award goes to the game's best left-hander - which makes Clemens and Carpenter ineligible. Willis's strongest competition likely will come from the White Sox's Mark Buerhle.