MetroBet dives into the available MLB futures, looking for the smartest wagers in the NL MVP and Cy Young markets. To bet on NL MVP and NL Cy Young now and get up to $250 in free deposit match bonus money go to MetroBet.us/Sugar and enter promo code METROBET.
NL MVP: Christian Yelich (+140)
Since Josh Bell cooled off in June, the NL MVP battle has boiled down to two players; Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich. The latter looks like a good bet at more generous odds.
Bellinger is the favorite at -160, hardly an appealing price. He was otherworldly in April, batting .416 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI. Bellinger could hardly be expected to maintain that pace, but each month has brought diminishing returns. In May he hit .319 with six homers and 15 RBI. In June his average slipped once more to .272 while he hit seven longballs and batted in 15 runs. Bellinger is just 5-for-23 to start July.
Yelich is the reigning MVP and has been highly consistent throughout 2019. He’s actually on pace to eclipse his outstanding 2018 numbers by a significant margin. Yelich has already hit 31 homers in 2019 after mashing 36 all of last season. He’s on pace for nearly 58 four-baggers before the year ends. He could also go from 110 RBI in 2018 to 125 RBI this year, assuming he holds true to form and the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Home Run Derby doesn’t worsen. Keep an eye on his status when the regular season resumes on Friday.
NL Cy Young: Zack Greinke (+2500)
The NL Cy Young race appears to be between two pitchers; Max Scherzer (-225) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (+150). However, a dark horse candidate threatens to upset proceedings in the second half on the year.
Scherzer (9-5, 2.30 ERA) leads all NL starters in innings pitched and strikeouts at the All-Star break. But potential overuse of him by Nationals manager Dave Martinez to compensate for a lousy bullpen could hurt Scherzer in the long run.
Ryu leads all NL starters in ERA (1.73) and WHIP (.908) and is tied for most wins (10). However, he’s been injured far too frequently in his career to trust that he’ll avoid the IL from now through September.
Zack Greinke (10-3, 2.73 ERA) has flown under the radar for most of 2019 but is in the top five in wins, ERA, WHIP (.918) and K/BB ratio (7.2). His Diamondbacks are just 1.5 games back in the Wild Card standings, so if he can guide his team to a postseason appearance while Scherzer and Ryu fall back to the pack, Greinke could prove to be a great value bet to win the Cy Young award at 25-1. It would be poetic justice if Greinke could steal the award with a strong second half as Jake Arrieta did from him in 2015.
