Prior to the start of the 2026 MLB season, Jacob Misiorowski was +3000 to win the National League Cy Young Award.
Now, after striking out 22 batters in his last two starts, Misiorowski’s odds have surged to -550, the shortest they’ve been all season.
With Misiorowski widening the gap in the NL race, the Cy Young landscape has changed dramatically in both leagues over the past several weeks.
Let’s take a look at the biggest risers and fallers in the American League and National League Cy Young races.
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Biggest Risers:
Jacob Misiorowski’s dominance has been on full display all season long. The 24-year-old leads MLB in ERA (1.63), strikeouts (195) and WHIP (0.73). He also has the ninth-best record in baseball at 11-5.
In his four starts in the month of July, Misiorowski only gave up five runs while striking out 39 hitters, including three games with 10 strikeouts or more. The Miz threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout in which he tossed 15 K’s against the Phillies on June 12th. In his first start of August, Misiorowski suffered his first loss in a month, though it wasn’t his fault. He allowed just two runs over seven innings while striking out 10, but the Brewers offense failed to give him any run support.
In the last week, Dylan Cease’s odds to win the AL Cy Young have surged to +110, closing the gap on Cam Schlittler, who is currently at -130.
Two starts ago, Cease threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just one hit and striking out 12 in a 6-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. The right-hander followed that up with a quality start against the Cardinals in which he only allowed one run in six innings while striking out seven. In July, Cease had three shutout starts of seven innings or more in each, lowering his ERA from 3.02 to 2.41 in that span.
The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander is fifth in MLB in ERA (2.41), third in strikeouts (174) and 13th in WHIP (1.08).
Biggest Fallers:
In early June, Cristopher Sánchez was the +145 favorite to win the NL Cy Young after throwing 50 ⅔ consecutive scoreless innings and not giving up a single run in the month of May.
Now, after a rough month in July, Sánchez has plummeted down the Cy Young oddsboard to +850. In July, the Phillies left-hander gave up 16 runs in four starts, including nine runs and 12 hits in his July 6th outing against the Royals. As a result of his rough month, Sánchez’s ERA went from 2.00 to 2.61.
However, Sánchez’s first start in August was his best in a while. He threw six shutout innings, only giving up two hits while striking out 11. The 29-year-old will look to build off that great performance and get himself back into the AL Cy Young race in the closing stretch of the season.
Earlier this summer, Shohei Ohtani had a real chance at winning both the NL MVP and Cy Young. However, lingering soreness in his left knee has kept Ohtani off the mound since July 3rd.
Prior to Ohtani’s injury, the four-time MVP winner had an 8-2 record, an ERA of 1.79 and 95 strikeouts in 85.2 innings pitched.
While Ohtani will continue to hit as a designated hitter, the Dodgers are expected to be extremely cautious with his return to the mound. With that, Ohtani has been taken off the Cy Young award betting oddsboard.
Odds to Win NL Cy Young
Jacob Misiorowski: -550 (bet $10 to win $11.82 total)
Chris Sale: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)
Cristopher Sanchez: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Odds to Win AL Cy Young
Cam Schlittler: -130 (bet $10 to win $17.69 total)
Dylan Cease: +110 (bet $10 to win $21 total)
Sonny Gray: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)
Drew Rasmussen: +2700 (bet $10 to win $280 total)
