With the 2022 season now reaching late September, it’s time we take a look at the races for the Cy Young in both the American League and National League.
MLB tweeted a list of the top five candidates in each league, and when you look at the stats, the races are still very much neck and neck.
Give us your best pitch.
(MLB x @MattressFirm) pic.twitter.com/5PoNbe73VZ
— MLB (@MLB) September 22, 2022
One thing that hasn’t changed is that Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease have the best two ERAs in baseball.
They were the top two on the list for AL Cy Young favorites, with Shane McClanahan, Framber Valdez, and Alek Manoah following in that order.
Julio Urias owns the best ERA in the National League, but Sandy Alcantara is listed as the favorite to win the award for the NL candidates.
Max Fried is right behind him in that regard, with Urias third on the list.
Carlos Rodon and Zac Gallen round out the final two spots, respectively.
Cy Young Favorites Revealed For Late September
At this point, some of the guys on the two lists are long-shots to win the award.
While Cease owns the second-best ERA in all of baseball at 2.13, Verlander is way ahead of him with a 1.78 ERA.
The rest on the list of favorites are well behind even Cease.
In the NL, Urias and Alcantara are neck and neck, but Fried, Gallen, and Rodon are well behind.
What’s surprising is that there doesn’t appear to be any consideration for Tyler Anderson, who like Fried and Gallen, has posted a 2.52 ERA on the season.
Anderson was also an All-Star this year.
With a few weeks left, there’s still a lot that can happen in these races.
We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out and who ultimately emerges victorious as Cy Youngs after the season is over.
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