We are now over a full month into the 2026 baseball season, but still in the infant stages of knowing which MLB players will be top contenders for awards like MVP and Cy Young . Today, we’ll take a look at the National League Cy Young race.

Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes is the favorite at +210, with the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto (+400) and the Braves’ Chris Sale (+550) also in the mix.

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Paul Skenes (+210)

Skenes won the NL Cy Young award last year as he went 10-10 with a 1.97 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. He struck out 216 batters (fourth-most in MLB).

The case for Skenes to win this year should be even easier to make considering the Pirates have a halfway decent team this season (currently 19-16 overall) and are projected to be in the playoff mix.

Skenes just has to hold up his end of the bargain. In seven starts in 2026, the 23-year-old righty is 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA and an 0.85 WHIP.…