Odds To Win MLB’s 2026 Cy Young: Updated Trackers & Betting Lines (Aug 19)

Looking across the game of baseball, every given night, we are getting treated to brilliant pitching performances by some of the game’s top arms.

Due to the evolution of technology, pitchers have more information at their disposal than ever before, which has leveled the playing field for all different types of pitchers to find success.

With pitchers now utilizing arsenals of optimized pitch shapes, we have seen phenoms burst onto the scene looking more dominant than ever before, as well as veterans finding the best version of themselves much later in their careers.

All of this leads to a wide-open race each year when it comes to the AL and NL Cy Young Awards, as we had not seen a back-to-back winner in five years before Tarik Skubal accomplished that feat in the American League last season.

An award that was once dominated by past Cy Young Award winners Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Clayton Kershaw has suddenly been passed around more frequently in recent years.

Looking at the 2026 Cy Young odds, we see a collection of dynamic arms that all have the ability to put together a dominant stretch as the best pitcher in their league. Who will win MLB’s Cy Young Awards?

Throughout the season, we will continue to update this post with the latest betting odds in both the AL and NL for the Cy Young Award. We will give insight on how these races are unfolding week-over-week, and which players are worth investing in to win the award.

Let’s dive into the odds to see which superstars are making their presence felt so far in the 2026 MLB Cy Young races. All odds provided are courtesy of BetMGM. For new users, use code JUSTBASEBALL for a first-bet offer up to $1500 if your first pick loses.

Current Cy Young Award Odds: Top Contenders for 2026

Before we dive a little bit deeper into the races in each respective league, let’s just take a look at the current updated odds from BetMGM in the two Cy Young races.

2026 American League Cy Young Odds

When the season began, many expected the AL Cy Young race to come down to both top finishers in last year’s campaign.

As we move toward the final stretch of the season, the AL race has yet again come down to two players, but not those that we expected.

With last year’s runner-up, Garret Crochet, going down early on with an injury that still has him on the shelf and Tarik Skubal missing a whole month with loose bodies in his elbow (and then being traded to the NL), the race has taken a turn.

In order to win a Cy Young, you essentially have to post, which means stay healthy for the whole season, and avoid astronomical blow-up starts that can inflate your ERA into high numbers not necessarily reflective of your capabilities.

Let’s check in on who has taken charge in this year’s AL Cy Young race.

Young phenom Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees has dominated while making every scheduled start this year. Sporting a dazzling 2.19 ERA, Schlittler leads the entire American League in pitching fWAR with 4.9 and has 152 IP.

North of the border, Dylan Cease proves to be Cam Schlittler’s toughest competition for the award in a race that certainly will go down to the wire.

Cease similarly has a stellar 2.42 ERA and has accrued 4.8 fWAR even after missing a couple of weeks due to injury. Unfortunately, this has kept his total innings down to 137.2.

Many will look towards the innings pitched number as the separator between the two candidates. We’ll see if it truly has an impact when the BBWAA selects the winner this fall.

2026 National League Cy Young Odds

With Phillies ace Zack Wheeler on the shelf to begin the season, the unanimous 2025 Cy Young winner Paul Skenes opened up 2026 as the betting favorite to go back-to-back, to nobody’s surprise.

It’s been heavily documented this year how Skenes has struggled, with the majority of the concern centering around his overall dip in velocity. Even while the Pirates organization claims he is healthy, many are skeptical, since the results this year have left a lot to be desired.

For some perspective, Skenes this year has a 3.88 ERA, while in his first two seasons he kept his ERA below 2.00.

Looking down the board, Chris Sale, Jacob Misiorowski, and Cristopher Sánchez are making crazy noise in this loaded race, but one of those three has comfortably pulled away from the others.

Earlier this year, Sánchez set a new record for the longest scoreless innings streak by a left-hander at 50.2 frames. His numbers on the season are quite ridiculous, and all the expected metrics back up his 5.2 fWAR and stellar 2.51 ERA.

However, the most sensational story is out of Milwaukee, where Misiorowski is just blowing the doors off hitters, to put it plainly. His average four-seam fastball velo is 100.7 mph, which is well over the league average of 95.3 mph. On the year, Miz has a 1.75 ERA and a 2.14 FIP. He currently holds the league lead in pitching fWAR at 5.4.

The Miz has taken a commanding lead in the Cy Young race for the National League, and unless he gets injured, it seems like this one is all but locked up.

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How To Follow the MLB Cy Young Odds

When betting on awards futures, timing is everything. Knowing when it is right to strike is half the battle in making sure you are finding value on the board. Right now, the National League race seems over, but the American League race is a toss-up.

Early on, it’s hard to lock up a Cy Young Award, but it’s rather easy to get buried in the race. Really bad blow-up starts can inflate ERAs to levels that will take multiple stellar outings to recover from, which can extremely hinder a pitcher’s chances in the long run.

As the season winds down, one or two bad outings could really change the odds for Cease or Schlittler, so it’s important to monitor each start they have. As for Misiorowski, he has given himself quite the cushion where even if he has a bad start or two, he sits comfortably atop the rest of the field.

The best way to follow the odds is to check weekly, follow the trends, and always remember what the BBWAA voters are going to value above everything else in the Cy Young race: ERA and WAR. Follow those two key statistics and pay attention to what the odds are telling us each week to find value in betting on this futures market.