2024 MLB Sleeper Pick: Reds LHP Nick Lodolo For NL Cy Young?

The 2024 MLB season will be here before we know it, and now is the time to start looking at the MLB futures market to see if we can find any value on sleepers heading into the year. The key is to find a player that we think is valuable at their current odds, one we think will have their odds drop as the year moves on. These can be sleepers or favorites, value is everywhere as long as you have good reasoning behind it.

BetQL will have you covered all season long on a game-by-game basis to keep you winning money all summer. Let's take a look at a player below that I think has some good value at the current price in the MLB futures market.

2024 MLB Sleeper Pick

Reds LHP Nick Lodolo To Win NL Cy Young (+12000, FanDuel)

Before the last MLB season began, I gave you the Texas Rangers to win the World Series at a huge number, and I hope you listened. You cashed in huge, and we are going to try to run it back this season as I release some of my favorite futures bets for the upcoming 2024 season.

While everyone is still focused on basketball and hockey right now, we will look ahead to baseball, where the market is still a bit soft with the lack of attention. I've been diving into some of my deep sleeper picks for this upcoming year, and there are several bets that I have identified as having some value at the current number. One bet I like is for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo to win the Cy Young award at massive 120/1 odds.

Of course, it should go without saying that for any wagers that have this long of odds, the likelihood that it cashes is very small. There is a reason FanDuel has him listed at +12000, but I still think that price is too long for a guy like Lodolo, who has shown he has some serious stuff to match his upside.

Last year, his campaign was cut short due to injuries. He had multiple stress fractures in his tibia, and eventually, the Reds had to shut him down for the season after just seven starts. He was 2-1 with a massive 6.29 ERA and 1.75 WHIP at the time he was ruled out for the year, which look like some disgusting stats.

However, as I mentioned, he was dealing with several injuries last season. He still was able to maintain a ridiculous 12.3 K/9 rate, showing how nasty his stuff is out there on the mound. When he is healthy, he shows that he has the potential to be one of the better arms in all of baseball. In his 2022 rookie year, he was 4-7 in 19 starts with a 3.66 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, as well as a 11.4 K/9 rate.

Now, those numbers aren't worthy of a Cy Young award, but he was a rookie, and he still had some pretty impressive numbers for a guy making his first MLB starts. After dealing with so many injuries in 2023, he should be healed up and ready to go for the 2024 season after not having surgery required on his tibia.

Lodolo is just 25 years old, and he has a lot to learn still to be a successful MLB pitcher. He needs to have better control of his pitches and not rely entirely on his nasty stuff to get guys out. Having that kind of strikeout stuff is a massive plus, and if he can learn to control it better with more accuracy and consistency, he can certainly win a Cy Young. He'll also need to stay healthy and play an entire season, which is never certain.

Cy Young winners also are almost always on winning teams, so the Reds are going to have to surprise some people this season for him to have a shot at it. I don't think that is impossible with the division they are in with the terrible Pirates, declining Brewers, disappointing Cardinals, and inconsistent Cubs.

At 120/1 odds, I think this is worth a small sprinkle on his potential alone.