AL Cy Young Sleeper Pick: Logan Gilbert A Longshot To Watch

When you think of AL Cy Young Award favorites this year, you probably think of Justin Verlander, or perhaps the budding star down in Tampa Bay that is Shane McClanahan. Those two are the biggest favorites to win the award at this point, with McClanahan at +350 and Verlander at +400 over at DraftKings. Simply put, there is little value in betting those numbers, even if one of those guys do end up winning the award. So perhaps we should take a look at a player that has longer odds to win, but could make a push as the season keeps progressing. At the very least, you could end up cashing out for a profit.

When looking at the odds board, a few names come to attention right away that have larger numbers associated to them. Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers is +2200, but he is on a team that could have one of the worst records in baseball. Dylan Cease of the White Sox is there too, but he has two other pitchers on his starting rotation that are also within the top 10 as it stands in Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech. Enter Logan Gilbert, who has been the shining star of the Seattle Mariners rotation this season. Now, the Mariners have been a disappointment so far, but they have the talent to turn things around unlike Detroit. It was believed that Robbie Ray would be the ace of the Mariners’ pitching staff this season after the team signed him away from Toronto as the reigning AL Cy Young winner. However, it has been Gilbert that has eclipsed all expectations and has become that guy.

On a losing team, Gilbert is 6-2 so far this season, which isn't eye-popping but good considering the circumstances. He has the 10th best ERA in the majors at 2.41 and a great 1.08 WHIP. Last season, Gilbert’s opponent batting average against was .241, which has now dropped to .211 in 2022. He's shown major improvement in just about every category from his rookie campaign last season, and has already notched the same amount of wins as he had all of last year, while decreasing his ERA from 4.68. He's top 25 in most major categories with the opportunity to get better as the season goes along.

No one even looks at Gilbert because he is playing on the Mariners, a team that isn't very good this season so far, and also one that plays on the west coast. It's funny how those teams get overlooked so much, yet have guys like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, two of the biggest stars in the sport. Gilbert is overlooked at a ridiculous +3500 to win the AL Cy Young right now, even though he has been one of the top 10 pitchers in the league so far. He's certainly worth a flyer at that 35/1 number.

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