The AL Cy Young award betting market was reshaped once again by Monday’s news of Detroit Tigers ace pitcher Tarik Skubal needing elbow surgery.
Key Takeaways
- Skubal was a +250 favorite last week and is now off the board.
- There is no timetable yet for his return from elbow surgery.
- Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler is now the market’s favorite at +200.
Not only are all three 2025 top vote getters (Skubal, Garrett Crochet, and Hunter Brown) currently on the injured list, but Skubal and Crochet were co-favorites at +350 to win the award when BetMGM opened its market earlier this year.
The Tigers today placed LHP Tarik Skubal on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to May 1) with loose bodies in his left elbow. RHP Ty Madden (#36) has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) May 4, 2026
Skubal, who won the award last year, got as short as +175 after the first week of the regular season and was the +250 favorite heading into this week in the Cy Young odds.
By Monday afternoon, Skubal was off the board at BetMGM. There is no timetable yet for the return of the fiery left-hander, who is having loose bodies removed from his elbow.
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New favorite
New York Yankees hurler Cam Schlittler was installed as the new AL Cy Young award favorite on Monday afternoon and was as low as +200 on Tuesday morning. Teammate Max Fried was listed second with odds of +350, Toronto’s Dylan Cease was placed fourth at +500, while Los Angeles Angels ace Jose Soriano was fifth at +550.
Odds spiked to +1,200 on Texas Rangers starter Jacob deGrom.
Crochet had fallen to over +6,000 before he was sidelined with shoulder inflammation, and he is not currently listed on BetMGM’s board. The Red Sox expect Crochet back this month.
Brown, who could return to the Astros in June, has massive odds of +20,000 to win the Cy Young.
Moving on up
The week before Skubal went on the IL, he led BetMGM’s AL Cy Young award market with 9.8% of the tickets. Skubal was second in handle (11.8%) behind Soriano’s 14.5% of the money.
Schlittler has seen his odds shorten quickly over the last few weeks. He opened at +10,000 and was down to +3,000 when the season began. A hot start got Schlittler down to +450 last week, tying him for second on the odds list with Soriano.
Schlittler has a 5-1 record and leads the AL with a 1.52 ERA. He’s tied for third in the AL in strikeouts (53) and has allowed just one home run over eight starts.
