The National League Cy Young field is not just loaded with worthy contenders; it is shaping up to be the deepest race either league has ever seen.
While the American League has a clear frontrunner in the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler, the NL has an abundance of pitchers putting up extraordinary seasons.
Entering Thursday, six NL pitchers had thrown at least 50 innings with a sub-2.00 ERA while striking out more than a batter per inning.
From 1967 through 2025, when the Cy Young was first awarded to a pitcher from each league, there was never a year when one league had that many pitchers meet those benchmarks through a comparable point in the season. MLB teams, on average, have played 56 games in 2026.
Sánchez’s Scoreless Streak
Last year’s NL runner-up, Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez, hasn’t given up a run in four weeks.
The left-hander has thrown 44 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings and counting, eclipsing a Phillies record that had stood for 115 years. He’s 14 1/3 innings away from tying Orel Hershiser’s single-season MLB record of 59 scoreless innings in a row.
After placing second in the NL Cy Young Award race last season with a 2.50 ERA and 212 strikeouts over 202 innings, Sánchez has managed to unlock another level in 2026. He leads all qualifiers in ERA (1.47), FIP (1.81) and has the third-most WAR (3.3, per FanGraphs) of any player.
Ohtani’s Strong Return
Shohei Ohtani made a strong return to the mound last season after spending 2024 solely as a DH, but the Dodgers were careful not to overwork his surgically repaired right arm. This season, though, Ohtani has been fully unleashed as a pitcher, and he’s been simply magnificent.
After throwing six innings of no-hit ball against the Rockies on Wednesday, Ohtani owns a 0.82 ERA with a .147 opponents’ batting average over 55 innings in 2026. Excluding openers, that’s tied for the fourth-lowest ERA a pitcher has recorded through nine starts since earned runs became official in 1913. Ohtani doesn’t have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, but there are no such requirements for Cy Young consideration.
Misiorowski’s Velocity
It seems like Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski has been setting some new velocity record every time he takes the mound.
Facing the Cardinals his last time out, he touched triple-digits 57 times, 10 more than any other pitcher since the pitch tracking era began in 2008. He also recorded the fastest strikeout (103.4 mph) by a starting pitcher in that timeframe, breaking his own mark of 103.3 mph set on May 8.
Misiorowski tied a career high with 12 strikeouts against St. Louis, reaching double figures for the third time.