Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw is the odds-on MLB baseball betting favorite to win his fourth National League Cy Young Award and first since 2014. Meanwhile, experts who bet on MLB favor Chris Sale to win his first best American League best pitcher award.

National League Cy Young candidates

Clayton Kershaw. The left-handed has landed of his feet following an injury-ridden season in 2016. Kershaw kicked off 2017 by tying Don Sutton for most straight opening day starts and Sutton and Don Drysdale for most total opening day starts by a Dodgers pitcher. Kershaw is 5-2 in seven starts with a 2.40 ERA, and has allowed 15 runs on 38 hits in 48.2 innings, with 53 strikeouts and seven walks. Like Larry David, Kershaw has struggled with long balls, but at this rate fans who bet on MLB have to believe he will pass Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Pedro Martinez, and Sandy Koufax, and join Greg Maddux and Steve Carlton with four Cy Youngs.

Max Scherzer. The Washington Nationals starter is the current Cy Young-holder and is another multiple winner, having won it in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers – thus becoming the sixth pitcher to win the award in both leagues. Were Scherzer to win it a third time, he would not only tie Kershaw but would become the first back-to-back winner since the Dodgers starter.

Stephen Strasburg. Scherzer’s teammate is 3-1 in six starts with a 2.66 ERA, surrendering 12 runs on 33 hits in 40.2 innings, striking out 36 and walking 11 batters. Strasburg did not allow runs on five hits and four walls, and stroke out out five in 5.2 innings in his more recent start on Friday against the Phillies.

American League Cy Young MLB baseball betting candidates

Chris Sale. The Condor cost the Boston Red Sox a pretty penny, including MLBPipeline’s No. 1 overall prospect Yoan Moncada, but the former White Sox has been worth his weight in gold. Sale became the second pitcher in league history to have an under- 1.50 ERA with 60 strikeouts in his first six games with a new team – the first being five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson in 1998. Sale has given up 12 runs on 30 hits in 51.2 innings, and is 3-2 in seven starts with a 1.92 ERA and 73 Ks on his way to his first ever Cy Young.

Dallas Keuchel. Kid Keuchy went through a rough patch in 2016, posting a 9-12 record with a 4.55 ERA. The Houston Astros starter has pitched his way out of that slump, though, throwing no fewer than seven innings – including one complete game – in all seven starts, and allowing more than two runs through the first six of those starts. Keuchel is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 13 walks. Houston fans who bet on MLB are behind him in his quest for a second non-consecutive Cy Young Award.

James Paxton. The Mariners left-hander is in the MLB baseball betting running for AL CYAW too.