2023 AL & NL Cy Young Award Odds, Favorites & Predictions

Few individual awards in sports have the level of prestige and instant name recognition as the Cy Young Award. Every MLB season, a top pitcher in each league takes home the hardware.

The prestigious award is named after legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young. Young, who pitched from 1890 to 1911, holds MLB records for wins (511), games started (815), innings pitched (7356.0), complete games (749), and losses (315).

Given the nature of the game now, those records will not be broken or come close to being touched by any of today’s pitchers.

But there are many talented pitchers plying their trade today, and two of them will be adding a shiny new trophy to their collection later this year.

Will There Be More First-Time Cy Young Winners in 2023?

Last season, Justin Verlander returned to action after two injury-affected seasons and captured his third AL Cy Young on the way to helping the Houston Astros win the World Series.

In the NL, Miami Marlins hurler Sandy Alcantara was rewarded for a career-best season with his first NL Cy Young.

Both winners were unanimous, claiming every first-place vote from each of the 30 voters.

With the New York Mets going nowhere, Justin Verlander returned to the Houston Astros before the trade deadline, so he won’t be winning a fourth Cy Young this season.

While the Marlins are in contention for an NL wild-card spot, this season has been a struggle for Alcantara. Through 24 starts, he is 5-10 with a 4.09 ERA.

Those two aren’t the only former Cy Young winners out there, but for now, early odds indicate that we could be set to have a duo of first-time winners for the third time in four seasons.

2023 Cy Young Award Odds

Odds are via BetUS as of Wednesday, August 16, 2023

2023 American League Cy Young Favorites

• Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees -330
• Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays +370
• Framber Valdez, Houston Astros +1350
• Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners +1500
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels +3600
• George Kirby, Seattle Mariners +4800

The Mariners are in the thick of the playoff mix thanks to Castillo and Kirby, but they and everyone else are looking up at Cole.

Each hurler on this list would be a first-time Cy Young winner, but leading the way is Cole (10-3, 2.76 ERA), who drew the start for the AL in the MLB All-Star Game.

After going 7-0 in his first 13 starts, he is only 3-3 in his last dozen starts. But he continues to pitch well, posting a 2.82 ERA in first 13 starts and a 2.70 ERA in his last dozen starts.

Could Ohtani close the gap and give himself a chance for the rare MLB MVP/Cy Young double?

He gave up five runs in three consecutive starts in July, but in three starts since, he has allowed only one run in 19 innings, helping himself to improve to 10-5 with a 3.17 ERA.

2023 National League Cy Young Favorites

• Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks +169
• Blake Snell, San Diego Padres +270
• Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants +290
• Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves +610
• Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs +760
• Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies +2500
• Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers +2600
• Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers +8000
• Kodai Senga, New York Mets +9500
• Jesus Luzardo, Miami Marlins +9500

Things are a bit more wide open in the NL, and these odds could look drastically different when the calendar turns to September.

There are two former Cy Young winners in this list. Three-time NL Cy Young winner Kershaw has moved to the periphery of the conversation after missing over a month with shoulder soreness.

Moving in the opposite direction is 2018 AL Cy Young winner Snell (9-8, 2.63 ERA).

After going 1-6 with a 5.40 ERA in his first nine starts, Snell is 8-2 with a 1.16 ERA in his last 15 starts. He allowed 28 runs (27 earned) in his first nine starts but has allowed only 12 (11 earned) in his last 15 starts.

Still, it’s Gallen (12-5, 3.24 ERA) with the edge over Snell, Strider, Webb, and Steele.

The Diamondbacks have fallen back in the NL wild-card race, but Gallen has stabilized his Cy Young chances by going 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA in his first three starts in August. In July, he posted a 4.45 ERA in five starts, which was his highest ERA in a month this season.

Strider (13-4, 3.75 ERA) continues to hold a sizable lead as MLB’s strikeout leader, with 217 in 139.1 innings through 24 starts.

For Strider, a 300-strikeout season is still within reach, but he may need to have 10+ strikeouts several times in his remaining regular starts to do it.

Unfortunately, inconsistency also continues to be an issue. In six starts since the MLB All-Star Game, Strider is just 2-2 with a 4.67 ERA.

Recent Cy Young Award Winners

• 2022: AL – Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers; NL – Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
• 2021: AL – Robbie Ray, Toronto Blue Jays; NL – Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers
• 2020: AL – Shane Bieber, Cleveland Guardians; NL – Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds
• 2019: AL – Justin Verlander, Houston Astros; NL – Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
• 2018: AL – Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays; NL – Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
• 2017: AL – Corey Kluber, Cleveland Guardians; NL – Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
• 2016: AL – Rick Porcello, Boston Red Sox; NL – Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
• 2015: AL – Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros; NL – Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs
• 2014: AL – Corey Kluber, Cleveland Guardians; NL – Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
• 2013: AL – Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers; NL – Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Where to Bet on MLB in 2023

Many top online sportsbooks offer a wide variety of MLB odds throughout the season.

In addition to being able to make daily MLB picks on games from Opening Day until the final game of the Fall Classic, you can also bet on the other major awards (MLB MVP, Cy Young Award, and MLB Rookie of the Year) and World Series odds.

• BetOnline
• BetUS
• Bookmaker
• Bovada
• Sportsbetting.ag

Along with MyBookie, where the Cy Young odds in this article came from, there are plenty of sports betting sites you can choose from that are good for MLB betting. The above books are some of the others that we highly recommend.

If you don’t have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.