Today pitchers and catchers report for some teams with the rest of the teams having them report tomorrow. The last three winners of the Cy Young Award for the American League were Robbie Ray in 2021, Justin Verlander in 2022, and Gerrit Cole last season. Ray was a dark horse winner in 2021 entering the season while Verlander and Cole were both favorites entering their season in which they won. So today we will take a look at who the five favorites in the American League are as we get ready to start 2024 and who one dark horse pick could be.
Five Favorites
RHP – Gerrit Cole – New York Yankees
Cole won his first Cy Young award last season and is looking to be the first pitcher in either league to win back-to-back Cy Young awards since Jacob deGrom did it in 2018 and 2019. 2024 will be Cole’s 12th season and his fifth with the Yankees. He has finished in the top five in the Cy Young voting six times in his career and in the top three, three times in his career. Last season he went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 209 innings which was a career high in innings pitched.
RHP – Corbin Burnes – Baltimore Orioles
Burnes won the Cy Young award in the National League back in 2021 with the Milwaukee Brewers and will look to be the first pitcher since Max Scherzer to win a Cy Young award in both the American League and the National League; Scherzer won the American League Cy Young in 2013 and the National League twice in 2016 and 2017. Burnes has finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting four times all coming in the last four years, he only finished in the top five once and that was the year he won. He is entering his seventh season and his first with the Orioles. Last season he went 10-8 with a 3.26 ERA and 200 strikeouts over 193.2 innings.
RHP – Kevin Gausman – Toronto Blue Jays
Gausman has become a star pitcher but has never won a Cy Young award. He is entering his 12th season having spent time with the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, and Blue Jays. He has finished in the top ten three times in his career all coming over the last three seasons, last season he finished third when he went 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 185 innings; the 237 strikeouts were a career-high for Gausman.
LHP – Tarik Skubal – Detroit Tigers
Skubal is entering his fifth season all with the Tigers. He has never finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting primarily due to the Tigers struggling or him being injured. This season the Tigers have a chance to contend and even win the American League Central. Last season when Skubal returned, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball making 15 starts going 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 80.1 innings. He finished the 2023 season winning the American League Pitcher of the Month. If Skubal can stay healthy and the Tigers can win the Central Skubal has a real shot at winning the award.
RHP – Luis Castillo – Seattle Mariners
Castillo is entering his eighth season have spent his first six seasons with the Cincinnati Reds before being traded at the 2022 trade deadline to the Mariners where he has pitched since. He finished in the top five of Cy Young voting for the first time last season when he went 14-9 with a 3.34 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 197 innings. The Mariners have two other pitchers who could contend with Castillo to win the award but Castillo most likely will be the leader of this rotation, so he gets the nod entering 2024.
Dark Horse
RHP – Brayan Bello – Boston Red Sox
Bello is entering his third season with the Red Sox and despite the low chances of the Red Sox making the playoffs, Bello could be a game-changer for them which could lead him to win the Cy Young award. He is in his second offseason working out with Pedro Martinez who won three Cy Young awards and finished in the top five seven times throughout his career. Bello last season finished 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 157 innings, if Bello can take that step forward, he may find himself in the favorites discussion in the future if not as early as this season.
