American League Cy Young Odds: Shane McClanahan Is the Early Favorite

We're well into the MLB season at this point, and some things are starting to take shape. This includes the betting odds for the major awards.

Today, let's look at the American League Cy Young odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Right now, five pitchers have better than +1000 odds to win the award. Let's dig into each of the five.

Shane McClanahan, SP, Tampa Bay Rays

Shane McClanahan has experienced nothing but success in his MLB career. The Tampa Bay Rays have been a factory for producing strong starting pitchers, and he's no different. Since 2021, McClanahan has a 2.73 ERA and a 28.8% strikeout rate.

This season, his ERA is even better at 2.03. His strikeout rate is right around that career number, sitting at 28.3%.

In the past few seasons, he may not have gotten as much love as he should have for this award due to his win-loss record. Voters have started to realize that wins are not a great measure of a pitcher's ability, but McClanahan's 9-1 record sure is dazzling and could help swing some votes in his favor if it stays as lopsided as it is now.

The ace for one of the game's elite teams, McClanahan checks a lot of boxes.

Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees

Gerrit Cole is a two-time runner-up for the Cy Young and has finished in the top five three other times. He's got to get one eventually, right?

Well, he's not having his best season in 2023.

Cole's 25.9% K rate is the lowest of any of the top-five candidates listed above, and his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) ranks fourth out of the five. Looking at those numbers, it seems hard to justify Cole having the second-shortest odds.

However, Cole is a big-name player on a headline-grabbing team, which might be part of the reason his odds are as short as they are. Cole also has a sterling record going in his favor, as he's currently 7-0.

Cole likely needs to improve his numbers to win the award, but he's certainly capable of doing that.

Framber Valdez, SP, Houston Astros

Framber Valdez has burst onto the scene in the past few seasons, and he is now the ace for Houston Astros. He's not the big-name star that Cole and Justin Verlander were during their time in Houston, but he is certainly making his case as a top pitcher.

Valdez had a stellar campaign last season but was even better in the postseason. He made four starts in the playoffs and went 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 25 innings en route to winning a World Series title. Having the moniker of a big-game pitcher never hurt anyone when it comes to award time, and Valdez has carried his 2022 postseason momentum right into this campaign.

This season, Valdez is sporting an eye-popping 2.16 ERA while striking out a career-best 26.9%.

What could wind up holding him back a bit -- oddly enough -- is team success. Houston is 4.5 games back of the Texas Rangers in the AL West and trails Texas by 94 runs in run differential. With that said, the Astros are still a -160 favorite to win the division, per the AL West odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Kevin Gausman, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

Kevin Gausman was oozing with potential ever since he broke into the big leagues. He's always thrown hard and had great stuff, and he's really putting it all together this year.

Gausman has been excellent this season. He leads the AL in strikeout rate (34.3%). His strikeout-to-walk rate is 28.9%, five percentage points better than the next closest pitcher in the AL. He also has the highest Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of any pitcher in the AL, according to FanGraphs.

Gausman's numbers make him an interesting bet, as he certainly could have the best case for the award at the end of the season. If he keeps up his strong performance to go along with the Toronto Blue Jays finishing the season well, it wouldn't be too surprising to see Gausman get some love during the award-voting process.

Shohei Ohtani, SP, Los Angeles Angels

Shohei Ohtani is the most unique player in modern baseball. Of course, we can consider only his pitching prowess when thinking about his case for the Cy Young.

Said pitching prowess has been on display this season. Ohtani trails only Gausman in strikeout rate among AL starters.

His ERA is the highest on this list, but he should be due for some regression. He's allowed 1.27 homers per nine innings, a career-high clip, despite also possessing a career-high ground ball rate. Ohtani's homer-to-fly-ball ratio is also out of whack, sitting at 19.2%. That's well above his career average of 12.4%.

If he can get the home runs under control, his ERA should drop, and we know the two-way star will generate plenty of headlines all season long. If he deals the rest of the way and helps the Los Angeles Angels make the playoffs, Ohtani could win the Cy Young.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.