As the 2024 Major League Baseball season marches toward the playoffs, award races in both leagues are heating up. While some accolades have a clear favorite, baseball is a funny game and a lot can happen in seven weeks. MLB stars are bound to go through slumps and an ill-timed one late in the season could open the door for other contenders of these prestigious honors, the Cy Young Award among them.
It is virtually a lock that MLB will have first-time Cy Young Award winners in both leagues this year. If it happens, it would be the third time since 2020, the last coming in 2021 when Robbie Ray and Corbin Burnes won. There's also a Triple Crown chase in both leagues that could add to MLB history books. Four times in the modern era has a pitcher in both the American League and National League won the pitching Triple Crown in the same season. Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander were the last pair to do it in 2011.
These aces and stars on the mound are chasing individual glory and have little time left to pad their résumé for the season. Starters have no more than eight or nine appearances left to make a lasting impact on their respective teams and award voters. The Cy Young Award races can change drastically, perhaps more than any other MLB award. Here's how our latest power rankings shake out.
National League
1. Chris Sale, Braves
It's fitting these rankings begin with Chris Sale following the southpaw's latest gem on Monday night. The Atlanta Braves ace blanked the San Francisco Giants through seven innings with more than half of his outs coming via a season-high 12 strikeouts. Sale and Blake Snell put together quite the show on the mound as the latter took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
It was a nice bounceback start for Sale after he could not make it out of the fifth inning in his last outing. He currently leads the National League in wins (13) and ERA (2.61) while trailing Dylan Cease in the strikeout lead by four (181 to 177) despite Cease starting three more games. This might be Sale's best chance at winning a Cy Young Award. A few more quality starts should seal the deal.
2. Zack Wheeler, Phillies
While the Philadelphia Phillies continue to spiral, their ace remains steadfast in pushing for the label of the best pitcher in baseball. Zack Wheeler is as consistent as they come on the mound and this season has been no different. He's also a perfectionist and called his last outing – a quality start with eight strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks – “not my best.”
Wheeler has more quality starts than any other NL pitcher and allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his last eight games. The Phillies right-hander is one of two pitchers in all MLB to rank in the top 10 in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts and innings pitched alongside Tarik Skubal. Philly needs Wheeler to remain at his best. There's little reason to think he'll regress.
3. Hunter Greene, Reds
Getting drafted with the second overall pick as a 17-year-old puts lofty expectations on a young pitcher's shoulders. After two lost years due to injury and a pair of inconsistent seasons to begin his MLB career, Hunter Greene has broken out in a big way for the Cincinnati Reds in 2024.
Greene earned his first All-Star honors after a stellar first half and he's been even better since the break. The 25-year-old registered his sixth consecutive quality start last Thursday. He surrendered four earned runs and struck out 45 batters in that span, bringing his season ERA to 2.90. No Reds starting pitcher has recorded a sub-three ERA in a full season since Sonny Gray in 2019.
4. Paul Skenes, Pirates
Few pitchers have electrified MLB like Paul Skenes has this season. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick wasted little time getting to the big leagues and established himself among the best starters in baseball just a few starts into his career.
Skenes faced his first rough patch when he battled the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend. LA hung four runs on Skenes, the most he's given up in his 15 starts, handing the righty his second loss of the season. It's also the first time Skenes failed to register quality starts in consecutive outings.
The Pirates lost their eighth straight game Monday and are fading in the NL Wild Card race. That might lead to Skenes being limited in September, hurting his chances of a last-minute push for the Cy Young Award. He's probably locked up National League Rookie of the Year honors already.
5. Dylan Cease, Padres
When you mention unhittable, no pitcher in MLB has personified that label as well as Dylan Cease lately. His ERA was 4.21 prior to his final start before the All-Star Game and Cease has been lights out ever since.
Cease is 4-1 with a 0.80 ERA and 43 strikeouts in his last six starts. He surrendered 12 hits in that span which included a no-hitter and a pair of one-hit quality starts. Among those six starts is a one-inning outing cut short by rain, but Cease has dominated major league bats for the better part of the last month to vault himself into the Cy Young Award conversation.
American League
1. Tarik Skubal, Tigers
There was preseason Cy Young Award buzz around Tarik Skubal but even his most loyal supporters couldn’t have expected the type of year he's having. His ERA has never been above three this season and Skubal is among MLB leaders in most pitching categories. He holds the outright American League lead in ERA (2.57) and strikeouts (171) while sitting in a four-way tie with 13 wins.
Maybe no pitcher is more valuable to his team than Skubal is to the Detroit Tigers. He tops the league in Baseball Reference WAR among pitchers and is second in FanGraphs WAR behind Chris Sale. The Tigers are 15-8 in games he starts.
Skubal's gap at the top in the AL is wider than Sale's in the NL and the former has a few favorable matchups down the line starting with the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. The lefty would become the fifth Tigers pitcher to win the award.
2. Corbin Burnes, Orioles
The oddsmakers see Corbin Burnes as Skubal's only threat at the moment and he's more than earned that standing. Although his case to win the award has taken a hit in recent weeks, Burnes has a history of shining late in the season and might make a push in September.
Burnes has allowed more than three runs in a start only twice in 24 outings and is tied for the MLB lead in quality starts with 19. He's a guarantee to shove for at least six innings every start, a trait few pitchers in baseball possess.
As the playoffs approach, Burnes will want to stay as sharp as possible to push away any chance of a repeat of last October. The then-Milwaukee Brewers ace surrendered three home runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a Wild Card series game loss. A pitcher of Corbin Burnes' stature is expected to deliver in the postseason. Will the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner feel the pressure?
3. Logan Gilbert, Mariners
Logan Gilbert is maybe the best of the Seattle Mariners' deep crop of star-studded starting pitchers. The 2024 All-Star has a 2.91 ERA, leads MLB in WHIP, and is eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Gilbert matches Burnes with 19 quality starts and only two pitchers have tossed more innings than him.
It will be a tough decision for Scott Servais to pick his Game 1 starter should the Mariners reach the playoffs. Seattle has arguably the best rotation in the bigs and would be a force in October with Gilbert a significant cog in the machine.
4. Seth Lugo, Royals
The Kansas City Royals were lauded for their spending spree last offseason which included signing Seth Lugo to a three-year, $45 million contract. The first year of that deal has paid off for both sides as Lugo has pitched with the best of them this season.
The veteran right-hander is enjoying a career year in which he's tied for the MLB lead in wins (13), leads the AL in innings pitched (155.2) and is third in the AL with a 2.72 ERA in 24 starts. Lugo pitched the first shutout of his career in his first game after the All-Star break, fanning six with one walk and four hits in a 4-1 win over the White Sox.
5. Emmanuel Clase, Guardians
As rare as it is for a relief pitcher to be in contention for a Cy Young Award, there comes a season every so often that produces a bullpen arm as a finalist and sometimes even a winner. Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanual Clase is of that same cloth this year as he pitches his way to one of the best seasons a reliever has ever had.
Clase has allowed four earned runs in 55 1/3 innings for a jaw-dropping 0.65 ERA. He leads MLB with 36 saves in 39 opportunities and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.00.
The three-time All-Star is a great bet to win his second Reliever of the Year Award and could become the first American League reliever to finish in the top five of Cy Young Award voting since Zack Britton was fourth in 2016.
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