Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins for so long looked like he might have a chokehold on the 2022 MLB NL Cy Young award. Now, though, Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres would like a word. So, too, Zach Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies. And Max Fried of the Atlanta Braves. And, well, you get the point: The 2022 NL Cy Young race is heating up, and the latest odds on MLB are reflecting as much.
Parsing through such a deep field can make it difficult for those intending to bet on 2022 MLB futures. That's why we're here: to provide clarity in the form of our best bets to win the 2022 NL Cy Young award. We will begin, like always, by taking a look at the latest MLB odds from the folks over at Bovada:
Pick to Win 
Sandy Alcantara (Marlins) +350 Joe Musgrove (Padres) +450 Corbin Burnes (Brewers) +550 Zack Wheeler (Phillies) +1300 Pablo Lopez (Marlins) +1500 Max Fried (Braves) +1500 Carlos Rodon (Giants) +2200 Aaron Nola (Phillies) +2500 Kyle Wright (Braves) +3000 Tony Gonsolin (Dodgers) +3500 Josh Hader (Brewers) +4500 Zac Gallen (Diamondbacks) +5000 Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) +5000 Yu Darvish (Padres) +6000 Julio Urias (Dodgers) +6000 Logan Webb (Giants) +6000 Sean Manaea (Padres) +6000 Eric Lauer (Brewers) +6000 Tyler Anderson (Dodgers) +6000 MacKenzie Gore (Padres) +7000 Carlos Carrasco (Mets) +8000
Make sure you're double-checking these betting odds to win the 2022 MLB Cy Young award before settling on your pick. The winner will not be voted upon until the end of the regular season, sometime in the early fall. Our odds on 2022 MLB futures, meanwhile, are accurate as of Tuesday, June 21, so they will definitely shift in the coming months.
Here's the good news: Because you have so much time to place your wagers, that gives you ample opportunity to peruse our reviews of the top online sportsbooks. Given all the information we've packed into these evaluations, we are confident you can use them to find the best MLB online betting sites in 2022.
Now, on to our best bets to win the 2022 NL Cy Young award!
Joe Musgrove Gaining Ground on the Favorite
Joe Musgrove is having a season that's too good to believe for the Padres. At this writing, the right-handed ace is a perfect 8-0 in his starts, with a 1.59 earned run average (ERA) that rates as the best in Major League Baseball—not just the National League, but the entire MLB. Opponents are also hitting just .196 against Musgrove to boot, and he's posting an incredible 4.76-to-1 strikeout-to-batters walked ratio.
It would be an overstatement to say Musgrove has come out of left field. But much like the Padres, his overall dominance has been revelatory, and it doesn't seem like enough people have taken notice.
Why Sandy Alcantara is Favored Over Joe Musgrove
Though Sandy Alcantara isn't beating out Musgrove in many of the most important categories anymore, he's pretty darn close. He ranks second in the league in ERA and is actually edging out Musgrove when it comes to opponent batting average (.193). The numbers are close enough that this can be spun as a coin toss.
Still, oddsmakers currently favor Alcantara. We're guessing that's a volume thing. More of his starts have gone to a decision (7-2), and he's pithed substantially more innings.
Max Fried is Climbing the 2022 Cy Young Ranks
Max Fried has cobbled together a compelling NL Cy Young case thanks to the steadiness of his arm. He has a better strikeouts-to-batters walked ratio than Musgrove, and he's averaging more than six and two-thirds innings pitched per appearance.
While Fried's ERA is a little high compared to the field (2.77), it still ranks among the best in baseball, and he's been much stingier over his past five starts. If he has a strong second half, his Cy Young stock will explode.
Zack Wheeler's Stock is on the Rise
Zack Wheeler places inside the top 10 of all the most important pitching metrics and continues to be a machine who doesn't let up a ton of home runs. Which begs the question: Why is he laying 13-to-1 odds like a common dark horse contender?
Innings pitched have something to do with it. Wheeler isn't even averaging six innings per start. He'll need to inflate that number over the next few months if he wants to make a run at everyone in front of him while fending off others, such as Fried, who remain behind him.
PREDICTION: Joe Musgrove Takes Home 2022 NL Cy Young Award
This should not come as a surprise, even though the odds may paint it as one.
Perhaps we should be more concerned that Musgrove has pitched 20-plus innings fewer than Alcantara. Forgive us for not getting there. Musgrove is allowing just 0.7 hits per inning while throwing the stuffing out of the ball. Twentyish innings isn't a big enough difference for us to give the edge to Alcantara. That gap could close as the year wears on anyway.
Failing that, voters are suckers for aces who come from an elite team. The Padres check that box for Musgrove. The Marlins don't do the same for Alcantara.
In some ways, that makes what the latter is doing more impressive. Alcantara is winning at an elite clip for a team that, well, struggles to win at an elite clip. But that, plus a handful of appearances, is all he has on Musgrove at the moment. And, frankly, that's just not enough.
OSB 2022 NL Cy Young Award Prediction: Joe Musgrove (+450)
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