MLB Odds 2018: Red Sox Pitcher Chris Sale, Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw Lead Cy Young Winner Odds
The latest MLB odds for the 2018 season’s potential Cy Young Awards winners were recently released with Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw leading the way. The Boston Red Sox pitcher and Los Angeles Dodgers ace lead the American League and National League, respectively. However, each of these star pitchers has some close competition. Based on the early look at the MLB odds, there are a number of other top pitchers listed who have a good shot at taking home the award.
The latest MLB future odds from the BetOnline sportsbook were published at the Odds Shark website. As of this report, Boston’s Chris Sale is the favorite in the AL, priced at +225. He’s trailed closely by Cleveland’s Corey Kluber (+250). Carlos Carrasco (+775), Houston’s Justin Verlander (+800), and Luis Severino (+1000) round out the top five AL candidates.
Chris Sale has yet to win the AL Cy Young Award, but he led the AL in strikeouts twice during his career and is a six-time All-Star. Over the course of his seven seasons in the league, he’s racked up a 91-58 record with 1,552 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA making him a worthy favorite on the odds. Corey Kluber captured the AL Cy Young last season, making it his second time winning the award.
Farrell liked everything he saw from Chris Sale: #RedSox pic.twitter.com/jfNb39o6di
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 6, 2017
The biggest underdog for the AL Cy Young award at the moment is James Shields. If bettors want to take a speculative punt on him winning the big award this season, a $100 bet will produce $50,000 should he win. There are a number of underdogs who have +30,000 odds, including Jordan Zimmerman, Andrew Harvey, Blake Snell, and Kyle Gibson.
Over in the National League, the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw leads the way with +175 odds, but Max Scherzer (+225) is right behind him. Kershaw has been with the Dodgers since 2008 and has captured three Cy Young awards (2011, 2013, 2014). The reigning winner for the NL is Max Scherzer, also a three-time winner (2013, 2016, 2017).
Hey Ohtani, welcome to the MLB courtesy of Clayton Kershaw. pic.twitter.com/4SK3VTuZ3G
— LA Dodgers HQ (@LADodgersHQ) March 7, 2018
Next up on the odds is the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard. “Thor” is listed at just +500, followed by the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg, and Giants’ Madison Bumgarner. The latter two of these NL aces are listed with +1,500 odds to win the NL Cy Young Award this season. In the National League, the biggest underdogs on the MLB odds are Clayton Richard and Anthony DeSclafani, who are each priced at a whopping +50,000.
The MLB season for 2018 officially gets underway on Thursday, March 29. Once the season gets underway, fans will get a closer look at all of these candidates to see who might be the early contenders or if a more surprising candidate presents himself.
