Following the opening weekend of the 2026 MLB season, Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez is the new betting favorite to win the National League Cy Young award.
Sánchez leads the latest NL Cy Young odds with a value of +325. He passed Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes, who began as a +220 preseason favorite. Skenes still has the second-best odds at +340.
The shuffle at the top of the market came after both hurlers had vastly different openers.
Skenes, who won last year’s NL Cy Young trophy, didn’t make it out of the first inning against the New York Mets. He was chased after giving up five runs on four hits, striking out one batter.
Sánchez, meanwhile, tossed six shutout innings in the Phillies’ 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers. He allowed three hits and whiffed 10 batters.
In the 2025 NL Cy Young race, Skenes became the first unanimous winner since 2022 and just the fifth in the past two decades. Sánchez netted all 30 second-place votes to finish as the runner-up to Skenes.
But if the season opener was any indication, the 2026 race could be much more competitive.
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