NL Cy Young Award Odds, Prediction: Paul Skenes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto Favored Over Cristopher Sanchez

Paul Skenes nearly won the NL Cy Young award in 2024 despite making his season debut in May, less than a year after being drafted. He finished third in voting in 2024, but ran away with the NL Rookie of the Year award.

The young phenom established himself as one of the best pitchers in the game last year, posting a sparkling 1.97 ERA and 0.948 WHIP, and still won the Cy Young award despite the Pirates causing him to go 10-10 in his 32 starts.

While Skenes earned all the first-place votes in 2025, Christopher Sanchez wasn’t too far behind. The Phillies southpaw went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, but that wasn’t enough for the voters to give him the Cy Young over Skenes.

Will Skenes make it two straight Cy Young awards, or will someone upset the young Pirates right-hander?

Let’s take a look at some of the 2026 NL Cy Young Odds ahead of the MLB season starting on March 25.

2026 NL Cy Young Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Paul Skenes: +225
Yoshinobu Yamamoto: +500
Cristopher Sanchez: +1000
Hunter Greene: +1400
Chris Sale: +1400
Blake Snell: +1800
Logan Webb: +2000
Zack Wheeler: +2000
Spencer Strider: +3000
Shohei Ohtani: +3000
Brandon Woodruff: +3000
Jesus Luzardo: +3000
Freddy Peralta: +3000
Jacob Misiorowski: +3000

Skenes and Sanchez finished top two in the voting last year, with Dodgers sophomore Yoshinobu Yamamoto not too far behind in third. He improved on a strong 2024 campaign, going 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA and 0.99 WHIP, and then really became a household name in the playoffs.

Yamamoto is just behind Skenes in the odds, which is understandable after his strong October. However, I think that’s a bit short, especially given how the Dodgers have been using their pitchers in the regular season in recent years. Who knows, maybe Los Angeles gives him plenty of run support to give him closer to 20 wins, but I’m not taking that bet at these prices.

What I am looking at is a consistent veteran in Logan Webb. The Giants ace finished sixth in voting in 2024 and fourth last season as he struck out over a batter per inning for the first time since 2021. The righthander certainly appears to be at the peak of his game, and he plays at a pitcher-friendly ballpark in San Francisco. Still, his ERA has been over 3.00 in the last three years, which may be a tad high in today’s game.

Going down the board, Spencer Strider could be a decent bounce-back candidate at 30/1. He battled injuries in the last two seasons after winning 20 games in 2023. He has the strikeout stuff, but allows a lot of home runs and, as with Webb, his ERA might just be too high again.

If I’m taking a long shot, it might be Freddy Peralta at 30/1. He posted a career-best 2.70 ERA while winning 17 games for the Brewers, and is now with the Mets in another pitcher-friendly park. The division is arguably tougher, though, but he has the stuff to impress with his new team.

But the best bet might just be Skenes at +225. He might deserve to be even shorter odds, but the Pirates’ offense may limit his win total. Still, he got all of the first-place votes with a 10-10 record, so that shows where the voters’ heads are at.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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