2026 AL Cy Young Award Pricing, Predictions & Insights
Updated September 29, 2026
Updated September 29, 2026
The American League Cy Young Award is up for grabs this season, with some of the best pitchers in baseball at the forefront in this market. A huge trade in the middle of the year has made this market even more interesting. Here, we take a closer look at the pricing and give you our prediction in this race.
A one-horse race has emerged between two pitchers from the AL East in this year's battle for the Cy Young award. Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees is the market favorite to win this award, while no other pitcher is at better than 1% to win the award according to the prices at Polymarket.
Schlittler finished the regular season with the best ERA in the American League and the second-best ERA in MLB as a whole. His 1.95 ERA put him behind only Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski in that department, and the Yankees ace got better at limiting opponent scoring as the season went along.
Schlittler did not finish at the top of the American League in strikeouts during the regular season. Cleveland's Gavin Williams claimed that distinction, while Toronto's Dylan Cease tied with Schlittler for second in the American League in strikeouts. But the combination of a stellar ERA and high strikeout numbers is expected to be enough to help Schlittler win this award for the first time.
Schlittler has seen his price continue to improve in the AL Cy Young race, as you can see in the chart from Polymarket above. But individual awards don't carry quite the same value if that player's team goes onto struggle in the postseason. As a result, Schlittler will need to be at his best for the Yankees in the postseason.
The Yankees will open their postseason with the Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox, with the winner of that series taking on the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays. That is not an easy playoff path at all, but Schlittler can prove that he truly deserves the Cy Young by performing well in those first two series.
At this point in the season, it's impossible to pick against Cam Schlittler of the Yankees, especially with his team having more success than Cease's Blue Jays. We should see another Yankee win the AL Cy Young award, with the only question being whether or not Schlittler can now lead his team to success in the postseason.
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