National League Cy Young Betting: Two Months In, Who Are the Favorites?

When you look at the MLB Cy Young odds across the league, you’ll find that the National League is seemingly boiling down to just two players. 

The top two in NL Cy Young odds — Spencer Strider and Zac Gallen — are separated by, at most, 50 points and tied on some MLB betting sites.

Below, we’ll look into their resumes and the player third on the list who still has an outside shot at winning it.

Let’s see who will win the NL Cy Young Award in 2023. 

Favorites for the 2023 NL Cy Young Award

Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves 

Pitching Stats: 6-2, 2.97 ERA, 69.2 IP, 113 Ks, 26 Walks.

Odds: DraftKings Sportsbook (+175)

As you’ll see from the pitching stats of the top two pitchers in the NL Cy Young odds race, they’re extremely close to one another.

Both players’ respective teams are in first place in their division and even have identical records.

Where Strider stands out are his strikeout numbers. At 113 punch-outs, he’s tied for the league lead with Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman. 

His 14.6 K/9 is among the best in the league, so as long as he keeps punching out batters and the ERA’s of him and Gallen stay close, Strider should do just enough to edge it out. 

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks

Pitching Stats: 7-2, 2.75 ERA, 78.2 IP, 88 Ks, 17 Walks.

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook (+250)

While Gallen doesn’t have the strikeouts Strider does, he walks fewer batters, has a .27 edge in ERA, and has one more win. 

However, the ERA difference isn’t enough to compensate for the strikeout difference. For Gallen to catch up, he’ll need to maintain pace, of course, but if he can drop his ERA to 2.50 or less and ramp up his K/9, he should be right there with Strider.

Either way, look for this race to come down to the wire, with Strider having a slight edge. 

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Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Pitching Stats: 7-4, 3.25 ERA, 69.1 IP, 84 Ks, 17 Walks.

Odds: Caesars Sportsbook (+1000)

Long-time stud Clayton Kershaw is coming in with odds in the +1000 range. 

As you’ll see from his numbers, he has respectable strikeouts and walk numbers. Still, with an ERA over 3.00, he’s not catching Gallen or Strider. 

Kershaw has pitched almost 10 innings less than Gallen and has four fewer strikeouts. 

It doesn’t seem likely Kershaw will catch up to either player. Still, we have to remember that Kershaw is, well, Kershaw and anything could happen. 

Either way, if he finishes with an ERA above 3.00, it won’t happen this season for him.