Cy Young odds have been available to bet on at US sportsbooks for months. The races in the American League and National League both look to be over. Justin Verlander was -1400 to win the AL Cy Young award on September 27 while Sandy Alcantara was -6000 to grab the NL prize. View live American League and National League Cy Young award odds below.
Cy Young odds
Check out AL and NL Cy Young odds below.
AL Cy Young odds: Futures Report
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Justin Verlander, Astros (-1400): Verlander has been outstanding this season and will get another shot to cement his AL Cy Young favorite status Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. The 39-year-old is sporting a 17-4 record this season, owning a 1.82 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP.
Dylan Cease (+850): Unless Cease tosses a no-hitter or something close to it over the next week, he will likely have to settle for AL Cy Young runner-up status behind Verlander. The righty will likely only have one more start for the White Sox this season.
NL Cy Young odds: Futures Report
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Sandy Alcantara (-6000): Alcantara has been lights out in his last two starts, allowing just 2 ER total while striking out 18 total batters. The Marlins righty is sporting a 2.32 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP.
AL Cy Young odds
Here are how AL Cy Young odds are changing throughout the course of the 2022 MLB season.
| Player | AL Cy Young Odds April 6 | AL Cy Young Odds May 15 | AL Cy Young Odds June 30 | AL Cy Young Odds July 20 | AL Cy Young Odds August 24 | AL Cy Young Odds September 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander | +1600 | +500 | +300 | +260 | -250 | -155 |
| Dylan Cease | +1400 | +700 | +1500 | +900 | +330 | +110 |
| Shane McClanahan | +1600 | +1200 | +280 | +205 | +1000 | +2700 |
| Shohei Ohtani | +1800 | +1000 | +100 | +700 | +5000 | +4000 |
| Alek Manoah | +700 | +1800 | +6000 | +4000 | ||
| Framber Valdez | +5000 | +10000 | +6000 | |||
| Kevin Gausman | +1600 | +650 | +1800 | +1700 | +6500 | +10000 |
| Gerrit Cole | +425 | +750 | +850 | +800 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Nestor Cortes | +2200 | +3000 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Shane Bieber | +700 | +1400 | +2500 | +3500 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Martin Perez | +5500 | +6000 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Robbie Ray | +900 | +4000 | +10000 | +7000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Michael Kopech | +5000 | +7500 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Tarik Skubal | +4000 | +6000 | +6000 | +9000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Luis Severino | +6000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Joe Ryan | +7000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Frankie Montas | +2000 | +4000 | +9000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Lucas Giolito | +1000 | +2000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Lance McCullers | +1400 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Jose Berrios | +2000 | +7000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | +2500 | +5000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Sonny Gray | +2500 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Lance Lynn | +3000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Eduardo Rodriguez | +3500 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Chris Sale | +4000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Luis Garcia | +4000 | +8000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
NL Cy Young odds
And here are how NL Cy Young odds are changing during the 2022 baseball season.
| Player | NL Cy Young Odds April 6 | NL Cy Young Odds May 15 | NL Cy Young Odds June 29 | NL Cy Young Odds July 20 | NL Cy Young Odds August 24 | NL Cy Young Odds September 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Alcantara | +1600 | +3000 | +250 | -125 | -300 | -330 |
| Max Fried | +2200 | +2000 | +1100 | +1500 | +1500 | +900 |
| Julio Urias | +2000 | +4000 | +6000 | +10000 | +8000 | +900 |
| Zac Gallen | +900 | |||||
| Tony Gonsolin | +1900 | +1200 | +800 | +2200 | ||
| Spencer Strider | +6000 | |||||
| Edwin Diaz | +4000 | +7500 | ||||
| Max Scherzer | +600 | +500 | +5000 | +3000 | +4000 | +9000 |
| Corbin Burnes | +700 | +500 | +500 | +600 | +950 | +10000 |
| Carlos Rodon | +1800 | +700 | +1700 | +1900 | +4500 | +10000 |
| Zack Wheeler | +1000 | +3000 | +1300 | +1800 | +8000 | +10000 |
| Joe Musgrove | +2500 | +2000 | +550 | +1200 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Aaron Nola | +1800 | +4000 | +2200 | +3500 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Pablo Lopez | +4000 | +1600 | +4000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Josh Hader | +5000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Kyle Wright | +5500 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | ||
| Yu Darvish | +4500 | +7500 | +6000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Logan Webb | +1400 | +3500 | +6500 | +7000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Sean Manaea | +2200 | +6000 | +8000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Jack Flaherty | +3500 | +15000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Luis Castillo | +4000 | +15000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Chris Bassitt | +3000 | +3500 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Jacob deGrom | +1200 | +6000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Brandon Woodruff | +1000 | +2000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Walker Buehler | +800 | +1600 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 | +10000 |
Best Cy Young betting site(s)
How to bet on the Cy Young
Placing an MLB futures bet on the AL or NL Cy Young award is all about mixing risk with reward. Your bet of choice will need to stay healthy and approach both 30 starts and 200 innings in a normal 162-game season. This is made more complicated by needing to target pitchers likely to rack up more than 200 strikeouts.
Preseason odds are assigned based on past pitcher and team success, and they’ll be regularly updated throughout the season based on current performance, as well as the public’s betting action. The favorites, as seen above, generally are the aces of teams expected to get to the MLB Playoffs. Getting top value means bettors need to correctly predict who’ll be the best pitcher on the team that will best exceed their expectations.
As mentioned earlier, many teams are stocked with two or even three “aces” in their starting five. This means that come voting season these pitchers will be sharing, or splitting, votes among themselves. It’s wise to target the more proven commodities on these teams, as they’re viewed as the de facto No. 1 option by those who aren’t true fans of the team.
The odds are best before the season, and they’ll become less and less profitable as the favorites emerge mid-way through the season. Bieber, who won last season’s AL Cy Young Award, opened with +330 odds at FanDuel for this season. This would return a profit of $330 on a $100 bet if he were to go back-to-back.
Where can I bet on the Cy Young Award?
An extensive list of MLB futures odds, including AL and NL Cy Young, are available at all legal and regulated US sportsbooks, such as DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, and PointsBet.
To access these odds, head to the primary MLB/Baseball tab at your online book of choice. From there, select Futures from a drop-down menu and proceed to Player Futures or Awards. The American and National League Cy Young contenders will be displayed on separate lists or charts. The betting options will include all pitchers (starters and relievers) the books view as viable Cy Young candidates. Emerging contenders will be added throughout the year and injured or struggling pitchers may be dropped from the options.
How the Cy Young Award is decided
As discussed above, players from the same team often need to split votes. This is because the Cy Young voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America are chosen from each MLB city. The local BBWAA chapter chairman of each city recommends two beat writers from daily newspapers, magazines or select websites. Writers from National League cities then vote for the NL Cy Young award and writers from American League cities vote for the AL Cy Young award.
Each writer is able to submit a ballot of five players for the Cy Young award. These ballots must be submitted prior to the start of the postseason and votes are then tallied based on a points system. A first-place vote is worth 7 points. Second-place is 4 points, third is 3 points, fourth is 2 points and a fifth-place vote is worth a single point.
Unlike with the MVP awards being open to the writer/voter’s interpretation of what Most Valuable Player may mean, the Cy Young simply goes to the best pitcher from either league. To be regarded as a top contender, pitchers must remain relatively healthy all season, and reach the desired statistical milestones of each voter.
The most hotly-debated issue when it comes to who’s worth a vote is “pitcher wins”. Some writers will discredit a hurler for finishing with a win-loss record below .500, or at least below another comparable pitcher. Others base their vote(s) purely on more individual pitcher statistics such as ERA, xFIP, and strikeout and walk rates.
Cy Young betting history: recent winners
| Year | AL Winner | Odds | NL Winner | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Robbie Ray (TOR) | +20000 | Corbin Burnes (MIL) | +4000 |
| 2020 | Shane Bieber (CLE) | +1200 | Trevor Bauer (CIN) | +2000 |
| 2019 | Justin Verlander (HOU) | +1500 | Jacob deGrom (NYM) | +350 |
| 2018 | Blake Snell (TB) | +10000 | Jacob deGrom (NYM) | +2500 |
| 2017 | Corey Kluber (CLE) | +4000 | Max Scherzer (WAS) | +350 |
| 2016 | Rick Porcello (BOS) | +20000 | Max Scherzer (WAS) | +10000 |
| 2015 | Dallas Keuchel (HOU) | +15000 | Jake Arrieta (CHC) | +4000 |
| 2014 | Corey Kluber (CLE) | N/A | Clayton Kershaw (LAD) | +500 |
| 2013 | Max Scherzer (DET) | +2000 | Clayton Kershaw (LAD) | +600 |
| 2012 | David Price (TB) | +700 | R.A. Dickey (NYM) | N/A |
| 2011 | Justin Verlander (DET) | +1000 | Clayton Kershaw (LAD) | +1500 |
| 2010 | Felix Hernandez (SEA) | +500 | Roy Halladay (PHI) | +250 |