Cubs' David Ross Is Quite Invested In The Cy Young Race Himself

(CBS) Perhaps under the radar, one of the aspects that a catcher takes the utmost pride in is one of his pitchers winning the Cy Young award, for it's a reflection of the work done behind the plate as well as on the mound.

Such is the case for veteran Cubs catcher David Ross, who has helped left-hander Jon Lester and right-hander Kyle Hendricks elevate themselves into NL Cy Young contention this season. On the Mully and Hanley Show on Friday morning, Ross explained how much one of them winning the award would mean to him.

"It would be awesome," Ross said. "You're so invested in the group as a catcher as a whole. Last year when Jake (Arrieta) won it, I felt like that was a huge part of something that I was a part of too."

Ross is Lester's personal catcher, and the two have been good friends for years. Ross believes Lester is pitching as well as he ever has. Lester is 18-4 with a 2.36 ERA this season.

"Jon has done his work, especially coming off last year with all the expectations and getting off to a rough start and really not pitching the way he wanted to all year (in 2015), this is more the guy I know and the guy he expects to be," Ross said. "He's just getting stronger, going right into the playoffs.

"For me personally and to be a part of it and especially going out (retiring), it'd be really cool for me to see him win that and be a part of something special like that.

"He's pitching amazing right now, really has everything working -- sinking, cutting the ball. He's got his fastball in and out. The breaking ball is good. The change-up has really come along. That's kind of been his equalizer in this run he's going on. He's got a really good change-up that he can throw for strikes and throw for chase."

Listen to Ross' full interview below.