More than halfway through the 2025 MLB season, the races for the coveted offseason awards are coming into clearer focus. But in some cases, things aren’t as clear-cut as we thought even a month ago.
That’s especially true in the race for NL Cy Young, where Phillies ace Zack Wheeler has overtaken the Pirates’ Paul Skenes in MLB.com’s latest polling. But with more than two months left in the season, the race is far from decided, as evidenced by the closeness of the voting. Though Wheeler received more first-place votes than Skenes this time, their overall vote totals were a bit closer: 216 for Wheeler, 209 for Skenes.
In the AL, meanwhile, Tigers lefty and reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal continues to dominate the balloting, with nobody even threatening to overtake him at the moment.
Along those lines, the 49 MLB.com experts who voted apparently see the NL as far more pitching rich than the AL. A total of 17 pitchers received at least one vote in the Senior Circuit, compared to just eight in the AL.
As always, voters were asked to rank their top five picks in each league. Pitchers received vote points on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale — five points for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on. Here are the results.
All stats are through Monday.
Skubal continues to dominate this race because he’s somehow gotten even better after last season’s unanimous AL Cy Young win. He’s 10-2 with a 2.02 ERA and he leads all MLB pitchers in FIP (1.87), WHIP (0.81) and K/9 (11.5) while leading AL pitchers in bWAR (4.5). He’s also second in strikeouts, with 148, and has held opponents scoreless in three of his past five starts.
Brown has been perhaps the most pleasant surprise among the pitching ranks this season. After reinventing himself last season by diversifying his approach, the righty and July AL Pitcher of the Month has an MLB-best 1.82 ERA and .180 average against, while his 0.90 WHIP is third-best in the AL and his 126 strikeouts are fourth-most.
Crochet has given the Red Sox exactly the ace-level performance they wanted when they acquired him from the White Sox in the offseason. He’s 9-4 with a 2.34 ERA, leads the Majors in strikeouts (151) and is tied for the MLB lead in innings (120 1/3). He’s also held opponents to two or fewer earned runs 16 times, including a stretch of seven straight starts from late April to early June.
Like Crochet in Boston, Fried’s first season in New York has gone about as well as the Yankees could’ve hoped. He leads the Majors with 11 wins and has tossed the second-most innings, with 119. Meanwhile, his 2.27 ERA is third-best in the AL. He’s also held opponents to a .205 average and has a WHIP of 0.96. And, most importantly for New York, the Yankees are 14-5 when he pitches.
The return of Jacob deGrom to dominant ace status has been a welcome development after multiple injury-plagued seasons. He’s 9-2 for the Rangers, the most wins he’s collected since 2019, and he’s pitched to an excellent 2.29 ERA, which is fourth-best in the AL. Opponents are batting just .195 against him, hence his very strong 0.91 WHIP.
Others receiving votes: Framber Valdez (Astros), Kris Bubic (Royals), Bryan Woo (Mariners)
Wheeler has never won a Cy Young, though he does have two second-place finishes, including last season. This could be his year, and he’s come on so strong lately that he’s vaulted into the top spot in this polling. Wheeler leads the NL with 148 strikeouts, a 0.84 WHIP and a .177 average against. How good has he been? He allowed just two earned runs the entire month of June. And get this: He has nearly six times as many strikeouts (148) as walks (25).
Skenes’ drop to No. 2 in the poll does not for one second diminish the work he’s done this season. He still leads the NL with a 1.94 ERA and leads all MLB pitchers with 4.8 bWAR. He also has a 0.92 WHIP and has held opponents to a .186 average, both numbers second in the NL only to Wheeler. Pay no attention to his 4-7 record, but consider this instead: He’s allowed more than one earned run just twice in 11 starts since mid-May.
Webb just continues to do his thing in San Francisco. He finished sixth in the NL Cy Young voting last season, which followed a second-place finish in 2023. So, it’s no surprise that he’s on the short list yet again. He’s tied with Crochet for the MLB lead in innings (120 1/3) and he leads the NL with a 2.33 FIP. Meanwhile, his 133 strikeouts are second-most in the NL. Also of note: Nobody in baseball has more quality starts (15) than Webb.
Yamamoto has already equaled his start total from last season (18), when his campaign was cut short by injury, and he’s been a little better than he was in his impressive rookie season. His 2.77 ERA leads all Dodgers starters — and ranks in the top 10 in the NL — and his 109 strikeouts are easily the best on L.A.’s staff. Meanwhile, his .199 average against is third-best in the NL and his 1.07 WHIP is fifth-best.
Gore has continued to be a strikeout machine for the Nationals, with his 131 punchouts ranking third in the NL. He averages 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings, which is the third-best mark in the NL, and his 3.11 ERA is 12th-best among NL starters. Gore’s 3.3 bWAR leads Nats pitchers and is tied for second-highest on the team among all players.
Others receiving votes: Robbie Ray (Giants), Cristopher Sánchez (Phillies), Andrew Abbott (Reds; one first-place vote), Matthew Boyd (Cubs), Sonny Gray (Cardinals), Chris Sale (Braves), Freddy Peralta (Brewers), Edwin Díaz (Mets), Nick Pivetta (Padres), Ranger Suárez (Phillies), Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers)
