Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was pulled from his Opening Day start after allowing five runs on four hits and two walks in just 2/3 of an inning.
The right-hander saw his NL Cy Young odds go from +210 to +260 IMMEDIATELY, while his closest contenders, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (+650 to +550), Cristopher Sanchez (+800 to +600), and Chris Sale (+1300 to +1200) all saw their numbers shorten.
Now, it's silly to read too much into this just yet, as Oneil Cruz made a couple of awful plays in the outfield that could and should have shortened the inning, but there will be chatter about how much Skenes pitched in the World Baseball Classic and how that may or may not have affected him.
For now, it's worth noting that it's the shortest start of Skenes' career, and just the second time he's been charged with five earned runs in an outing.
As the regular season kicks off in earnest, let's dig into the latest MLB odds and 2026 MLB Cy Young predictions below.
Odds to win AL Cy Young award 2026
| Player |  |
|---|---|
 Tarik Skubal |
+350 |
 Garrett Crochet |
+425 |
 Cole Ragans |
+1000 |
 Jacob deGrom |
+1300 |
 Hunter Brown |
+1500 |
 Max Fried |
+1500 |
 Bryan Woo |
+1700 |
| Logan Gilbert |
+2000 |
| Framber Valdez |
+2200 |
 Trevor Rogers |
+3000 |
| Kyle Bradish |
+3000 |
 Dylan Cease |
+3000 |
 Gavin Williams |
+3500 |
 Joe Ryan |
+3500 |
| Cam Schlittler |
+3500 |
 Shane McLanahan |
+4000 |
| Nathan Eovaldi |
+4000 |
| George Kirby |
+4000 |
| Carlos Rodon |
+4000 |
| MacKenzie Gore |
+4000 |
| Kevin Gausman |
+5000 |
| Bryce Miller |
+5000 |
| Ranger Suarez |
+5000 |
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Odds last updated on 3-26.
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Odds to win NL Cy Young award 2026
| Player | |
|---|---|
 Paul Skenes |
+260 |
 Yoshinobu Yamamoto |
+550 |
 Cristopher Sanchez |
+600 |
 Chris Sale |
+1200 |
 Logan Webb |
+1800 |
| Blake Snell |
+1800 |
 Zack Wheeler |
+2000 |
| Jesus Luzardo |
+2000 |
| Shohei Ohtani |
+3000 |
 Freddy Peralta |
+3000 |
| Nolan McLean |
+3000 |
 Jacob Misiorowski |
+3000 |
 Eury Perez |
+3500 |
| Tyler Glasnow |
+3500 |
| Sandy Alcantara |
+4000 |
 Michael King |
+4000 |
| Nick Pivetta |
+4000 |
| Brandon Woodruff |
+4000 |
 Nick Lodolo |
+4500 |
| Spencer Strider |
+5000 |
 Edward Cabrera |
+5000 |
| Chase Burns |
+5000 |
Odds last updated on 3-26.
MLB Cy Young futures bets
| Bet | Odds | Bet date | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eury Perez |
+3500 | March 25 | 0.25 |
| Dylan Cease |
+3000 | March 25 | 0.25 |
| Hunter Greene |
+1400 | February 24 | 0.25 |
| Cole Ragans |
+1300 | February 24 | 0.25 |
The Toronto Blue Jays jumped early in the offseason to sign Dylan Cease to a long-term contract, and while he has his share of detractors, this is a fantastic situation for the right-hander.
The Blue Jays represent the best defense he's ever played in front of, and that should greatly affect his BABIP and help mitigate his ERA shortcomings. His peripherals have always been great, and despite a 4.55 ERA last year, his 3.56 FIP is encouraging.
So is the fact that he's pitched at least 165 innings in five straight seasons. He's durable. And no pitcher has recorded more strikeouts in that time. No one.
Toronto and pitching coach Pete Walker have done this before, too. Robbie Ray was always a talented pitcher who couldn't quite piece it all together (though he had some bright seasons with Arizona), and then he put together a Cy Young-winning season with the Blue Jays and parlayed it into a big contract with Seattle. At +3000, Cease is too much of a value play to pass up.
On the Senior Circuit, Miami Marlins right-hander Eury Perez has gone from +4500 to +3500, and I'm kicking myself for not taking the plunge sooner, especially after my first pick, Hunter Greene, went down with a long-term injury.
Health will be the key, but Perez is an electric arm, and he gets to pitch his home games at pitcher-friendly LoanDepot Park. His fastball is among the best in baseball, averaging close to 98 mph in 2025, and if he takes the expected leap forward in his age-23 season, +3500 is more than a reasonable ask for him to become the second Cy Young winner in Marlins franchise history after Sandy Alcantara.
Previous Cy Young picks thread
2-24: Greene + Ragans
Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans was limited to 61 2/3 innings in 2025, but he was electric when able to take the mound. The 4.67 ERA is unseemly, but that came with a 2.67 expected ERA and a 2.50 FIP. It's reasonable to assume he was a bit unlucky, especially with improvements to his strikeout rate and walk rate. His 30.4% K-BB rate was the best among MLB starters with at least 60 innings pitched last season, and he has a clean bill of health entering spring training.
As for Cincinnati Reds righty Hunter Greene, he threw just 107 2/3 innings but was arguably the best version of himself. His 2.76 ERA was just a tick off his 2024 mark, and he posted the best strikeout and walk rates of his career, at 31.4% and 6.2%, respectively. If Greene can roll those improvements into a larger workload, he has the stuff to be there in the home stretch.
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Previous Cy Young Award winners
Here are the last 10 winners of the AL and NL Cy Young Award, with Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, Washington, and the New York Mets each leading the way with two. Overall, the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have the most Cy Youngs all time (12), followed by the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves with eight and the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and Mets with seven apiece.
Previous AL Cy Young winners
| Year | American League Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 |  Tarik Skubal |
| 2024 | Tarik Skubal |
| 2023 | Gerrit Cole |
| 2022 | Justin Verlander |
| 2021 | Robbie Ray |
| 2020 | Shane Bieber |
| 2019 | Justin Verlander |
| 2018 | Blake Snell |
| 2017 | Corey Kluber |
| 2016 | Rick Porcello |
Previous NL Cy Young winners
| Year | National League Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 |  Paul Skenes |
| 2024 | Chris Sale |
| 2023 | Blake Snell |
| 2022 |  Sandy Alcantara |
| 2021 | Corbin Burnes |
| 2020 | Trevor Bauer |
| 2019 | Jacob deGrom |
| 2018 | Jacob deGrom |
| 2017 |  Max Scherzer |
| 2016 | Max Scherzer |
Pitchers with multiple Cy Young awards
Twenty-two pitchers have won multiple Cy Young Awards, led by Roger Clemens' seven trophies. Of those 22 winners, five are still active in the majors.
| Pitcher | Number of Cy Young Awards (Years) |
|---|---|
| Roger Clemens | 7 (1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004) |
| Randy Johnson | 5 (1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) |
| Steve Carlton | 4 (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982 |
| Greg Maddux | 4 (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) |
| Seven different pitchers | 3 |
| 12 different pitchers | 2 |
Popular MLB futures markets
MLB Cy Young Odds
Detroit Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal is again favored after winning the award in 2024 and 2025.
Paul Skenes is the favorite to repeat as NL Cy Young winner after taking home the hardware in 2025.
Detroit Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal and Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Paul Skenes won the AL and NL Cy Young Awards, respectively.
Roger Clemens won seven Cy Young awards throughout his career. Only one other pitcher, Randy Johnson, has even won five.
Detroit Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal won AL Cy Young in 2024 and 2025 to become the first pitcher since Jacob deGrom won the NL Cy in 2018 and 2019.
Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson are the only pitchers to ever win three straight Cy Young Awards, each accomplishing the feat in four consecutive seasons.
