Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom likely won’t win another Cy Young Award after all.
When we last checked in on the National League Cy Young Award odds at the All-Star break, New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom was a ridiculous -1000 favorite to win it for the third time in his career. Only 10 other pitchers have won the Cy Young at least three times, and we figured pitcher deGrom was a lock … unless he got hurt.
DeGrom is hurt, and now the NL Cy Young odds have shuffled completely to where it’s a very interesting race. DeGrom came out of the All-Star break with forearm tightness and now is dealing with elbow soreness. Obviously, Tommy John’s surgery is a concern with those types of issues, and getting TJS at this point would knock out deGrom for all of 2022.
The right-hander believes he will pitch again this season, but it absolutely will not be prior to September and by that point, the Cy Young Award probably is out of reach. The Mets also are going to have a say in whether he is allowed to take the mound. DeGrom is currently +900 on the MLB odds.
Where Are All The Left-Handers?
The two new MLB betting favorites are the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler at +300 and the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler – he’s a former Met – at +350. Buehler comes off a rare loss Tuesday against the Houston Astros in a potential World Series preview but pitched very well. He’s 11-2 with a 2.16 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 144 strikeouts in 22 starts. That Buehler will pitch in important games the rest of the way with the Dodgers chasing both the NL West title and a wild-card spot will only help his profile.
The Phillies are in the NL East race and Wheeler has been a big reason why. The 31-year-old is having a career season with a 9-6 record, 2.57 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 170 strikeouts in 22 starts. If the Phillies didn’t have such a terrible bullpen, Wheeler might have a win-loss record closer to Buehler’s. The Phillies’ last Cy Young winner was future Hall of Famer Roy Halladay in 2010.
San Francisco’s Kevin Gausman is +425, Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff +450, the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes +500, and the Dodgers’ Max Scherzer +850.
The Dodgers currently have four former Cy Young winners on their staff with the recent trade for Scherzer from the Nationals. That has never happened before. Scherzer (9-4, 2.75 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 157 Ks) looked terrific in his Dodgers debut on Wednesday, allowing two runs and striking out 10 Astros over seven innings in a victory.
Could be tough for Scherzer to catch his own teammate Buehler and they could split some votes. Ditto the two Brewers aces – and a third Milwaukee pitcher, Freddy Peralta, is +1200.
One notable item: No left-hander is among the Cy Young favorites.
