The Baseball Writers’ Association of America will hand out the Cy Young Awards for each league on Wednesday, broadcast live on MLB Network and MLB+ starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Outside of Chris Sale (2024 NL Cy Young Award), the remaining five candidates have never won the Cy Young Award. In the National League, the flamethrowing Jacob Misiorowski figures to be the front-runner, but he’ll face stiff competition in the form of the Phillies' Cristopher Sánchez and Sale.
Over in the American League, the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler is also viewed as the favorite, and is joined by Dylan Cease and Parker Messick.
Follow along below to find out the winners:
2026 MLB Awards (Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET)
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AL finalists
Dylan Cease, RHP, Blue Jays
Cease’s case rests on his massive ceiling, the high-end dominance few pitchers in this game are even capable of. His 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings set a new Blue Jays record for qualified pitchers and his 237 strikeouts were the fourth-most in franchise history behind only Robbie Ray and Roger Clemens (twice), both of whom won Cy Youngs.
Parker Messick, LHP, Guardians
It’s hard to perform in the Major Leagues as a rookie, let alone excel as one. And yet, Messick (who was also an AL Rookie of the Year Award finalist) made it look routine this past season, to put himself into some rare air. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 25-year-old is just the sixth rookie to be named a Cy Young Award finalist, following Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (‘81), Dwight Gooden (‘84), José Fernández (2013) and Paul Skenes (‘24).
Cam Schlittler, RHP, Yankees
Making his mark on the national stage with a dominant shutdown of the Red Sox to conclude last year’s American League Wild Card Series, Schlittler raised his game to new levels in his first full big league season, going 14-6 with an AL-best 1.95 ERA.
NL finalists
Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, Brewers
The Pirates’ Paul Skenes was the 16th unanimous winner of this award in the NL a year ago, and it would be something of a surprise if Misiorowski is not the 17th after a year in which he touched 105.5 mph on the radar gun and was the hardest starting pitcher to hit in history. The 6-foot-7, 24-year-old Brewers ace finished as the Major League leader in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), strikeout rate (37.9 percent), WHIP (0.80), and opponents’ average (.157) in 174 2/3 scintillating innings during the regular season.
Chris Sale, LHP, Braves
Sale made a strong bid for what would be his second NL Cy Young Award within the past three seasons. The 2024 winner ranked second in the NL in ERA (2.16), third in WHIP (0.98), fourth in strikeouts (200) and sixth in batting average allowed (.215).
Cristopher Sánchez, LHP, Phillies
Sánchez might not throw 100-plus mph, but he dominated MLB hitters in other ways, making him an NL Cy Young finalist for a second consecutive year. He went 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 33 starts this season. He led MLB in wins and bWAR (8.1). He led the NL in quality starts (22), starts (33), complete games (one) and shutouts (one).