Cy Young Winners Odds: Burnes vs. Cole Picks

The New York Yankees will enter the playoffs as the AL East champions, but they are still battling AL Central winner Cleveland for the Junior Circuit’s top seed.

The Yankees are favorites on the MLB odds for Thursday’s home series finale vs. Baltimore, which will be an AL wild-card team.

Why Bet on Baltimore?

Baltimore is in the playoffs for the second straight year, having secured their spot in the postseason on Tuesday night. Consecutive playoff appearances have been rare for the Orioles, who had only previously accomplished the feat from 1996-97, ‘73-74 and ‘69-71. Baltimore should be the AL’s top Wild Card team, meaning it would get to host a best-of-three Wild Card Series from Oct. 1-3 at Camden Yards. Now, the big question is whether right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (right lat/teres strain) could return to pitch in the postseason.

A city so nice, we beat them twice. pic.twitter.com/btKetfjUQC
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 26, 2024

Adley Rutschman

“Our guys are really happy to take this step. But for us, we’re ready to go,” catcher said. “We’re trying to get better. We’re setting ourselves up for a playoff run right now, and I think our guys are just really excited to get going.”

Home Runners

Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander are one of two duos with at least 35 home runs, along with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The Orioles did not have a player reach 35 homers last season, and this year marks the first time since 2016 that the team has had multiple players with 35+ home runs. Santander is the eighth switch-hitter (12th occurrence) in MLB history to hit at least 40 homers in a season and one of four (five occurrences) with at least 44.

The Birds have hit 13 leadoff homers, the most by the club in a single season and second in MLB this year behind the Phillies (15); Henderson has 10 of those, second most in one season by an Oriole behind Brady Anderson, who hit all 12 for the club in 1996. As of Wednesday, Henderson is three homers shy of becoming the fourth shortstop (11th occurrence) in MLB history to hit 40 home runs, joining Alex Rodriguez (6x, 1998-2003), Rico Petrocelli (1969), and Ernie Banks (4x, 1957-60).

Ryan Mountcastle

The Orioles got a key bat back Tuesday when they activated first baseman Mountcastle from the injured list. The 27-year-old had been on the IL since Aug. 26 (retroactive to Aug. 23) due to a left wrist sprain sustained in an Aug. 22 game vs. Houston. Mountcastle went 1-for-2 in Tuesday’s win over New York. To make room for him in the roster, the Orioles optioned designated hitter Eloy Jiménez to Triple-A Norfolk.

Eloy Jiménez

Jiménez was acquired by the O’s on July 30 in a deal with the White Sox, one of several moves made by Baltimore shortly ahead of the Trade Deadline. The right-handed hitter got off to a strong start with the Orioles, hitting .296 (21-for-71) with five doubles, one home run and seven RBIs over 23 games in August. But he was 1-for-24 (.042) this month and was hitless over his past 18 plate appearances.

Corbin Burnes

Former NL Cy Young Award winner Burnes makes what could be his final-ever regular-season start with the Orioles ahead of free agency this winter. Burnes (15-8) yielded three hits and three walks over seven scoreless innings last Friday, striking out eight and earning a win over Detroit.

Burnes allowed only two runners to reach scoring position in his dominant outing. He fired 60 of 91 pitches for strikes, but he generated only 11 whiffs. Only three Tigers reached scoring position and none made it to third base as Burnes was in complete control from the jump with a dominant cutter. After struggling to a 7.36 ERA over five starts in August — by far his worst month of the season — Burnes has recorded a 1.08 ERA through four starts this month, dropping his season ERA to 2.95 across 31 starts.

“I think we’ve had good stuff all year. Just haven’t been able to command it where we wanted to. So now, we’ve had good stuff, and we’re commanding it,” Burnes said.

Burnes owns a 0-1 record with a 1.29 ERA (2 ER/14.0 IP) in two prior starts against the Yankees. He suffered the loss on May 1 after allowing two runs on four hits (1 HR) and one walk with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings. In his lone start at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 10, 2023, with Milwaukee threw 8.0 no-hit innings on two walks with seven strikeouts.

The big righty tries to become only the second Orioles pitcher since 1993 to post a sub-3.00 ERA, joining Kyle Bradish in 2023 (2.83) With a win, Burnes would become the first Oriole with 16 victories in a season since Chris Tillman in 2016 (also 16).

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Why Bet on New York?

Aaron Judge still has a shot at 60 homers after hitting No. 56 in Tuesday’s series-opening loss. He would need a miraculous finish to match the 62 homers he hit in 2022, but the American League leader in homers and RBI (139) appears well on his way to another AL MVP award.

Gerrit Cole

It’s 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner Cole on the mound Thursday. Cole (7-5) allowed one run on two hits and a walk while striking out seven over nine innings to earn the win over the Athletics last Friday. Cole didn’t get a complete game, as the Yankees needed 10 innings to get past the A’s. It was the first time all year Cole went beyond six innings, and he threw 66 of his 99 pitches for starts in his third quality start over his last four outings.

That’s the Cy Young,” said teammate Juan Soto. “That’s the Cy Young going out there. Never doubt his ability and how great he is. It’s just great to see him doing that. It was a little tough because we couldn’t get runs to support him, but definitely really excited about what he can do throughout the nine innings.”

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