Ben Lepper ‘25
Staff Writer

The MLB season is nearing its conclusion, and the end-of-season awards will soon be decided. One of those awards, of course, is the Cy Young, which, for those who don’t know, is given annually to the best pitcher in the AL and the best pitcher in the NL. As always, there are multiple pitchers in each league who could potentially walk away with the honor. I’ve identified four pitchers per league that I think could realistically walk away with the award.

In the AL, three of the four pitchers on my list are in the bloodbath known as the AL East. The first pitcher, Robbie Ray of the Toronto Blue Jays, has had an absolutely exceptional season. As I write this, he has a record of 12-5, an ERA (earned run average) of 2.64, and a WHIP (walks & hits per innings pitched) of 1.01. Also on the list is Gerrit Cole of the Yankees. He had a bit of a rough patch in the middle of the season, but has rebounded nicely since then. His record is 15-8, his ERA is 3.03, and his WHIP is 1.03. Nathan Eovaldi of the Boston Red Sox has had a solid year as well, posting a record of 10-8, an ERA of 3.58, and a WHIP of 1.17. Last on my list for the AL is the only representative of the AL Central: Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox. He’s got a record of 10-5, an ERA of 2.47, and a WHIP of 1.07. Again, these numbers are as of Sunday, Sept. 19, and they may have been slightly adjusted since then, but I strongly believe that these will remain the top four AL candidates.

In the NL, I’ve got two players from the Los Angeles Dodgers on my radar for a Cy Young—Max Scherzer and Walker Buehler. Scherzer has once again been unreal. The MLB’s favorite crazy person has put up a record of 15-4, an ERA of 2.08, and a WHIP of 0.81. Buehler’s been another important piece of LA’s rotation, with a 14-4 record, a 2.39 ERA, and a 0.96 WHIP. It’s almost unfair how good the Dodgers are in terms of pitching. The next player on my list is Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes. He’s had a great season for the Brew Crew, putting up a 2.34 ERA and a WHIP of 0.94, alongside a record of 10-4. While these three remain heavy favorites, Zach Wheeler of the Phillies could be a dark horse candidate as well, with a record of 14-9, an ERA of 2.83, and a WHIP of 1.02. Same goes for the NL here—stats may change in the last few games, but these should be the top four.

I’m a little upset to not be able to write about Tyler Glasnow or Jacob deGrom here, but unfortunately, the injury bug has not been kind this year. If it were up to me, Robbie Ray would win the AL Cy Young, and even though Scherzer’s stats are better, I’d give the NL Cy Young to Corbin Burnes, as I think he’s made more of a difference for the Brewers than Scherzer has made for the Dodgers. One thing’s for sure, though: Whoever wins it will definitely deserve it, as this is the strongest Cy Young class I’ve seen in a while.