MLB Cy Young Betting – Phillies Lead Loaded List Of NL Cy Young Contenders

If you’re an online betting player who likes pitching, you should check out the National League this season as the field is extremely deep for the Cy Young award. We have five pitchers who should be pegged as the favorites, but there are others who could be considered. We’re going with a guy who came from the American League, and his team will likely find themselves in the postseason if he has the season we think he will…but it’s not the guy you’re thinking of.

Roy Halladay, Philadelphia

The reigning winner is still the ace in Philly, despite their new signing, after leading the league in wins, innings and complete games, second in WHIP, and he was third in ERA. “Doc” posted a 21-10 record with a 2.44 ERA, and he proved to many that he was what the people in Toronto already knew: he is the best pitcher in baseball and has been for a while now. Halladay would have had more wins if not for poor run support (he was sixth from the bottom of the National League in terms of run support for starters), and unless he gets hurt, we can’t see a major drop-off for Halladay. He’ll be 34 in May, but with the way he takes care of himself, Halladay could pitch this way for another three or four years.

Cliff Lee, Philadelphia

Lee made a big splash as he returned from Texas, and he had a 12-9 mark (with Seattle and Texas) with a 3.18 ERA. But Lee makes his money in the postseason, which may hurt his chances to win another Cy Young award (he won the 2008 American League Cy Young award in Cleveland). You can’t count out Lee, who has some of the best stuff in baseball, and he is already comfortable in Philadelphia after spending the last third of 2009 with the Phillies. But after spending the last two World Series on the field, Lee may decide to pace himself for the playoffs, especially with the loaded rotation they have in Philadelphia.

Zack Greinke, Milwaukee

MLB betting players could witness a bounce-back year from the 27-year-old Greinke, who won the 2009 American League Cy Young award, as he didn’t have the best year in Kansas City, going 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA. You could tell that playing for a team that didn’t give him any support (Greinke had the fifth-lowest run support of any AL starter) was starting to wear on Greinke, who has a history of depression issues, so maybe a change of scenery will bring out the guy we saw roll through the American League two years ago. We know he has the stuff, and he just makes it seem so effortless, and Greinke not only has a solid rotation behind him, he also should get some runs. He is a big risk given his history, but Greinke could explode in Milwaukee.

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco

The big worry for the two-time Cy Young winner (2008, 2009) is a World Series hangover, which is very possible. The 26-year-old had a 16-10 record with a 3.43 ERA, and led the league in strikeouts for the third year in a row, but a midseason slump had many wondering if Lincecum was done. If you watched the postseason, where he went up against the likes of Halladay and Lee and came out on top, you should have no further questions about Lincecum, who doesn’t even have to overpower batters any more. Teammate Matt Cain is catching up to him in terms of rotation hierarchy, and some say that he has even passed him, but we have to stick with Lincecum until proven otherwise.

Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado

Jimenez tailed off in 2010, finishing with a record of 18-9 and an ERA of 2.88, and he was seventh in innings, third in strikeouts and eighth in ERA. But the 27-year-old was a monster in the first half of the season, going 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA and likely would have won the Cy Young if he had kept that pace up. Consistency is the key if MLB betting players are going to have any faith in Jimenez, because he was 4-7 in the second half with a 3.80 ERA, and you also have to see how he’ll handle another season of 200 innings or more, as this would be his fourth season in a row.

Bonus

The Cy Young race is wide open in the National League, and MLB betting players will now see more candidates come into the fold as St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright is out for the season with an elbow injury. His teammate (and 2005 winner) Chris Carpenter could be in the mix, along with young St. Louis hurler Jaime Garcia. Cain, in San Francisco, could be a factor, along with Atlanta’s Tim Hudson, Florida’s Josh Johnson and Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw. You could even throw in Philadelphia’s Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in the mix, and don’t forget about two-time (2004 and 2006 in Minnesota) winner Johan Santana in New York. There are as many good pitchers in the National League as there have been in years.

MLB Betting Pick

Halladay and Lee will offer low odds, along with Lincecum, but you could get Zack Greinke for a good price, and that would be our pick as we believe Greinke will thrive in a place like Milwaukee, which, like Kansas City, isn’t the biggest media market in the world. If you give Greinke some run support and put other pitchers around him, he has the ability to dominate, and we feel that will happen in 2011 for the resurgent Brewers, Take Zack Greinke in your Cy Young sports betting picks.