Cy of the times: Hendricks or Lester to back Arrieta’s award?

One started Game 7 of the World Series. The other took over for him and pitched like he planned to finish it.

The Cubs wouldn’t have been in the World Series without either one of them.

And on Wednesday – exactly two weeks after they helped make history for the Cubs that night in Cleveland – Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester find out whether they’ve made even more history.

The two most consistent performers on the best pitching staff in the majors this season are among the three finalists for the National League Cy Young Award, along with Nationals ace Max Scherzer. The announcement is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.

It would be the first Cy Young Award for either – and mark the first time the Cubs have had back-to-back winners.

Jake Arrieta last year became the fifth Cub to win the award, first since Greg Maddux in 1992.

Lester, who finished with the second-best ERA (2.44) in the majors and tied his career high with 19 wins, is the one player ownership and the front office most often identify as the key for turning a long-term rebuilding process into a competitive ascent – mostly for giving credibility to the regime’s vision by committing to a six-year, $155 million deal as a free agent.

“It’s very rare that someone shows up and does exactly what you hope that he does,” team president Theo Epstein said. And he really has. Outside of a small hiccup in April of 2015, he’s been a dominant, elite, starting pitcher – reliable, a hard worker, and he pitches his best in the big games.

“And I thought his poise in several key postseason games rubbed off on a lot of other people.”

Lester has made 32 starts and exceeded 200 innings each of the last two years as the Cubs averaged 100 regular-season victories and made back-to-back National League Championship Series appearances, including the first title in 108 years this month.

After coming out of his first Cubs spring training dealing with lingering effects from a “dead arm” period, Lester was winless in April 2015. He’s 30-15 with a 3.02 ERA as a Cub since then with an All-Star appearance and five Game 1 postseason series starts.

Hendricks, in his second full season in the majors, went from competing in spring training to win the fifth-starter job to a 16-8 season with the best ERA in the majors: 2.13.

After the Cy Young voting was complete at the end of the regular season, Hendricks went on to beat Clayton Kershaw in the NLCS clincher with 7 1/3 scoreless innings. Then he took a 5-1 lead two outs deep into the fifth inning of Game 7 of the World Series before a much-criticized early hook after a walk on a questionable call.

Hendricks last week won an MLB Players Choice award as the National League Outstanding Pitcher.

“Our starting pitching really carried us for most of the season,” Epstein said. “And Hendricks’ growth I thought was a big story of the season and especially of the postseason. If you compare where he was this October to last October in terms of his endurance, the weapons that he had to attack good-hitting lineups, and his performance this October vs. last October, it’s an obvious significant step forward.”