Inside The Rangers

Three Texas Rangers Pitchers Receive Votes in First AL Cy Young Poll

The Texas Rangers had three different pitchers receive votes in the first AL Cy Young poll from MLB this season.

Dylan Sanders

May 11, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning at Comerica Park.
May 11, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning at Comerica Park. / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
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The Texas Rangers have had one of MLB's best pitching staffs this season, including a number of players that are playing themselves into award conversations.

MLB.com recently released their first AL Cy Young poll for the 2025 season and, while no Rangers players received a first place vote, there were three pitchers that received at least one vote.

Texas has never had a pitcher win the award. That may not change this season, but having three players in the conversation is a great development after having a bottom-10 pitching staff in 2024.

Which Texas Rangers Received AL Cy Young Votes in Recent Poll?

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal leads all AL pitchers with 19 first-place votes, making him the player to beat right now.

Nathan Eovaldi didn't receive a first-place vote, but he was the fifth-ranked player overall. He has put himself in a spot to seriously contend for the award if he can keep this level of play up.

Through nine starts, Eovaldi has a 1.78 ERA with an MLB-best 0.754 WHIP and 9.7 K/9. His 0.8 BB/9 is also the best mark in the league.

He has walked just five batters with 60 strikeouts in 55.2 innings of work this season. If he can keep playing like this he will absolutely continue to move up this poll.

Jacob deGrom is a two-time NL Cy Young winner, taking the award home in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. He's been a finalist since then, but hasn't finished in the top 10 since 2021.

When deGrom is healthy, he has pitched at a Cy Young level. The issue has just been that he hasn't seen the field.

He has had a great start to 2025 with a 2.72 ERA with a 1.023 WHIP and 9.6 K/9 in eight starts.

This is the type of performance that the Rangers hoped they would see more of when they handed him a five-year, $185 million contract back in 2023.

Tyler Mahle was the last player listed for Texas. He's lacking the overwhelming stuff that Cy Young winners usually hold, but the results speak for themselves. Mahle absolutely deserves to be in the conversation.

The 30-year-old has had a breakout campaign with a 1.47 ERA, 0.959 WHIP. He doesn't strike many batters out, but he also doesn't give up many hits.

He doesn't get hit hard at all as batters have a tough time barreling him up. The control and locations of his pitches have been his biggest attributes.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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