Predicting Cy Young Award winners is a tricky venture considering the volatile nature of pitchers.
Still, there are two obvious preseason favorites in the American League and National League as we enter the 2025 MLB season: Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes.
Find out how ahead of the field they are in our early look at MLB Cy Young odds for the AL and NL below.
2025 AL Cy Young Award Odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Tarik Skubal | +400 |
| Garrett Crochet | +600 |
| Cole Ragans | +900 |
| Jacob deGrom | +1100 |
| Gerrit Cole | +1600 |
| Logan Gilbert | +1600 |
| Framber Valdez | +1700 |
| Pablo López | +1700 |
| Shane McClanahan | +2000 |
| George Kirby | +2200 |
| Hunter Brown | +2500 |
| Grayson Rodriguez | +2500 |
| Max Fried | +2500 |
| Luis Castillo | +2500 |
| Kevin Gausman | +2500 |
| Tanner Houck | +3000 |
| Luis Gil | +3000 |
| Bryce Miller | +3500 |
| Bryan Woo | +3500 |
| Tanner Bibee | +3500 |
| Max Scherzer | +4000 |
| Joe Ryan | +4000 |
| Seth Lugo | +4500 |
| Carlos Rodón | +5000 |
| Zach Eflin | +5000 |
| Ryan Pepiot | +5500 |
| Reese Olson | +7000 |
| José Berríos | +8000 |
| Clarke Schmidt | +8000 |
| Yusei Kikuchi | +8000 |
| Taj Bradley | +8000 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | +9000 |
| Bailey Ober | +10000 |
| Bowden Francis | +10000 |
| Ronel Blanco | +10000 |
| Kutter Crawford | +10000 |
| Luis Severino | +13000 |
| Chris Bassitt | +15000 |
| Brayan Bello | +15000 |
| Emmanuel Clase | +20000 |
| Alex Cobb | +20000 |
| Michael Wacha | +20000 |
| Mason Miller | +20000 |
There's no surprise at the tippy top with reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal (+400). He's a deserving favorite to repeat after accomplishing the AL pitching triple crown and helping the Tigers end a 10-year playoff drought.
Freed from White Sox purgatory, Garrett Crochet (+600) closely trails Skubal, as the Tennessee product enters his debut season for a Red Sox club with high aspirations. Crochet impressed in his first full season as a starter in 2024, racking up 209 strikeouts over 146 innings with a 3.58 ERA.
Cole Ragans (+900) flourished in his first full season with the Royals and earned a fourth-place Cy Young finish a year ago. Ragans was actually one-upped by teammate Seth Lugo (+4500) last year, as the veteran right-hander came out of nowhere to deliver a 16-9 record and 3.00 ERA en route to a runner-up Cy Young finish. Lugo was second in MLB in innings pitched.
Jacob deGrom (+1100) finds himself at the upper end of the list despite pitching just 197 1/3 innings since the 2021 season. deGrom made his return from Tommy John surgery at the end of last season and delivered a 1.69 ERA and 14 strikeouts over 10 2/3 innings (three starts). He hasn't logged a full season since 2019.
On the opposite end of the durability spectrum, Logan Gilbert comes in at +1600. He led MLB in innings last season (208 2/3) and finished sixth in Cy Young voting. Teammate George Kirby, another innings-eater type (at least 190 innings pitched in each of the last two seasons), trails close behind at +2200.
Sticking with the Mariners, it's worth noting their entire starting rotation is within the top 20: Luis Castillo (+2500), Bryce Miller (+3500) and Bryan Woo (+3500).
Shane McClanahan (+2000) finds himself back on the list after missing the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The left-hander notched back-to-back All-Star seasons in 2022-23; he last pitched on Aug. 2, 2023 and is set to make his big league return on Opening Day.
The two relievers on the board find themselves at the bottom: Emmanuel Clase and Mason Miller (both at +20000). Clase finished third in Cy Young voting last year after posting rather ridiculous numbers — 0.61 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 47 saves — out of the 'pen; he should be plenty motivated again after a shockingly rough postseason.
Miller was downright awesome last year — but he plays for the A's.
A reliever has not won the Cy Young Award since Éric Gagné in 2003.
NL Cy Young Award Odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Paul Skenes | +300 |
| Zack Wheeler | +750 |
| Chris Sale | +800 |
| Blake Snell | +1000 |
| Corbin Burnes | +1200 |
| Dylan Cease | +1600 |
| Tyler Glasnow | +1700 |
| Spencer Strider | +2200 |
| Michael King | +2200 |
| Hunter Greene | +2200 |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | +2500 |
| Sandy Alcantara | +2500 |
| Logan Webb | +2500 |
| Kodai Senga | +2800 |
| Freddy Peralta | +2800 |
| Zac Gallen | +3000 |
| Sonny Gray | +3000 |
| Shota Imanaga | +3000 |
| Shohei Ohtani | +3000 |
| Cristopher Sanchez | +4000 |
| Brandon Woodruff | +4000 |
| Aaron Nola | +4000 |
| Spencer Schwellenbach | +4000 |
| Justin Steele | +4000 |
| Roki Sasaki | +5000 |
| Mackenzie Gore | +5000 |
| Jared Jones | +5000 |
| Sean Manaea | +5500 |
| Nick Lodolo | +7500 |
| Jesús Luzardo | +7500 |
| Brandon Pfaadt | +9000 |
| Justin Verlander | +9000 |
| Reynaldo López | +9000 |
| Ranger Suarez | +9000 |
| Yu Darvish | +13000 |
| Mitch Keller | +13000 |
| Clay Holmes | +15000 |
| Merrill Kelly | +15000 |
| Erick Fedde | +15000 |
| Andrew Abbott | +20000 |
| Kyle Harrison | +20000 |
| Edwin Díaz | +20000 |
Following an utterly dominant debut season that saw him take home NL Rookie of the Year honors, Paul Skenes (+300) has skyrocketed to the very top of the NL Cy Young board. He's reportedly focused on getting ahead of hitters more and is also working on adding two new pitches to his arsenal.
Spencer Strider (+2200) could be an interesting value play. He made only two starts last season after suffering UCL damage that required internal brace surgery. He's reportedly tracking for a late-April debut — barring any setbacks, he looks to be in line for close to a full workload.
The Cy Young is one award that Shohei Ohtani (+3000) has yet to win in his illustrious MLB career. It's hard to see him making a play for it this year considering he hasn't pitched since 2023 and reportedly won't even be on the mound until May.
In 2021 — Ohtani's first full season as a pitcher after undergoing his first Tommy John surgery in 2018 — he went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA.
Like the Mariners, the Dodgers basically have their entire rotation on the board: Blake Snell (+1000), Tyler Glasnow (+1700), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (+2500) and Roki Sasaki (+5000).
Another intriguing long shot down the board is Cubs ace Justin Steele (+4000). He finished fifth in Cy Young voting in 2023 and posted strong numbers again in 2024 (3.07 ERA; 2.74 xERA, 130 ERA+) but was limited throughout the season with hamstring and elbow injuries.
Representing the old guard are Justin Verlander (+1900) and Yu Darvish (+13000).
A three-time Cy Young winner, Verlander is coming off his worst season and is entering his age-42 season.
A two-time Cy Young runner-up, Darvish missed chunks of last season due to injury and a personal matter, but he shined in the postseason with just three runs allowed over 13 2/3 innings against the Dodgers in the NLDS.
Edwin Díaz (+20000) is the lone reliever on the NL side. While playing for a contender helps, he hasn't come close in Cy Young voting even in his best seasons (2018, 2022).
*Odds via DraftKings
