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Another week down, another chance to talk about some potential candidates you can bet to win the Cy Young Award. Our panel of 70 MLB.com experts has submitted their votes for who they think will take the prestigious award in each league and we’ll go over a few of them below with DraftKings Sportsbook Cy Young odds.

Follow me on Twitter (@SBuchanan24) for updates.

Dylan Cease, RHP, White Sox
First-place votes: 1
AL Cy Young odds: +800 (8-1)

One of my favorites to win the Cy Young Award in the American League didn’t even crack the top five vote-getters and I’m OK with that. Cease currently has the fourth-best odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, trailing Justin Verlander (5-1), Kevin Gausman (7-1) and Gerrit Cole (7-1). All worthy contenders for sure, but I love what I’ve seen from the 26-year-old Cease. If anything, he’s performed better than his numbers indicate, which is always a great sign. His 3.09 ERA is solid but his xERA sits at 2.22 to go with a 2.59 FIP. Among starters with at least 40 innings pitched, Cease ranks second best in both xERA and FIP. It’s been extremely tough to get any type of production off the White Sox ace, allowing one run or fewer in five of his eight starts and only three home runs total.

Then, of course, come the strikeouts. Cease currently boasts the best K/9 in the league at 13.8. That’s more than a strikeout per inning higher than second-place Shane McClanahan of the Rays (12.6). The two biggest reasons for his success have been his fastball and slider, two pitches he combines to throw 76% of the time. Opposing hitters are batting no better than .182 against either pitch, while his slider is generating a 41.4% whiff rate.

At 8-1 odds and with the numbers that Cease is churning out, he remains my favorite American League pick to bet on.

Justin Verlander, RHP, Astros
First-place votes: 30
AL Cy Young odds: +500 (5-1)

The top vote-getter in the American League is also the odds-on favorite to win the award. Verlander, who underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2020, is pitching as if that never happened. Granted, his strikeouts are down and he’s currently averaging under a strikeout per inning, but everything else is on point. We’re approaching June and Verlander is one of six starters with a sub-2.00 ERA and ranks second at 1.38. He trails only Nestor Cortes, who owns a 1.35 ERA through 40 innings.

The amazing aspect of Verlander’s return at 39 years old is that he hasn’t seen any dip in his velocity. After averaging 94.6 mph on his fastball and 87.5 mph on his slider in his last full season in 2019, Verlander is hitting 94.6 and 87 on those two pitches, respectively. He’s yet to allow more than three runs in a start and has left without allowing a run on three separate occasions in seven games. Some may point out that his schedule has been generous through the first two months, with four of his seven starts against teams currently under .500. That said, in those other three starts against the Twins, Blue Jays and Angels, Verlander tossed a combined 19 innings, allowing just four runs on eight hits and 17 strikeouts. If he continues this type of run and gets those strikeouts up a bit, missing out on 5-1 could feel foolish.

Pablo López, RHP, Marlins
First-place votes: 30
NL Cy Young odds: +1200 (12-1)

A rough start from López against the Nationals on Wednesday helped push his odds back a bit, giving us 12-1 on DraftKings Sportsbook. It’s critical to take advantage of these type of “gifts” as López has been nothing but dominant otherwise. Throwing a ton of pitches early, López exited Wednesday’s start logging just three innings while giving up three runs on four hits and only two strikeouts. As you’d imagine, this was the shortest outing of the season, and the two K's matched his season low, which he had against the Phillies back on April 15. That said, there is a reason he’s our top vote-getter in the National League and the odds for him to win are extremely enticing.

We can look at this in two different ways. First, the National League is loaded with potential Cy Young candidates. So, for Lopez to win, he has a big field to beat. That said, this also gives him longer odds to win, which we can capitalize on. Max Scherzer was the leader at +425 before the Mets announced on Thursday that the ace would miss six to eight weeks with an oblique strain. The other players in front of López, Corbin Burnes and Carlos Rodón, are coming off rough starts of their own. Walker Buehler, who is also 12-1, has simply not been on the same level as López. This has me loving these odds for López.

That bad start for the Nationals hardly moved the needle on his already stellar numbers. He still boasts a phenomenal 1.56 ERA (xERA of 2.65) with a 9.4 K/9, a 2.2 B/9, and a 0.4 HR/9. López has also been generating a ton of swings and misses at a rate of 13.7%. If the season ended today, that would be the best of his career, which came back in the shortened 2020 season when he was at 12.1%. His next two upcoming starts should also help boost that number, as he’s on track to go against the Braves and Rays. Both teams are amongst the most strikeout-prone teams in the league against righties, with the Braves leading the league in K% at 26.4% and the Rays 13th at 23.4%. If López continues his dominance in both starts, I wouldn’t be surprised if his odds go down to single digits. Take this discount while you can.

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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.

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