The National League Cy Young race has tightened around two names: Christopher Sanchez and Jacob Misiorowski. With the season moving into the stretch where every start can shift the standings, durability is suddenly as important as dominance.
That is why Misiorowski is drawing so much attention now. He has moved into the front-runner discussion as health and a steady stream of starts shape the award market, the same kind of workload debate that has followed pitchers across the majors this summer. For readers tracking the race, the search is not just about who has been best so far, but who can keep taking the ball every five days.
The American League market has offered its own turns, with Dylan Cease returning and pitching strongly against the Phillies, Schlitler battling through some struggles, and Terri Scoble being reintroduced to the Tigers after a promising rehab start. Jacob deGrom remains a name to watch if his innings are managed carefully, while Brian Wu is still considered a longer shot despite a less stellar recent start. But in the National League, the picture is more compressed and the margins are thinner.
Sanchez and Misiorowski now appear to be the pitchers most likely to benefit from that compression. Both have kept themselves in the top tier by staying on the mound and piling up the kind of regular work that award voters notice, and Misiorowski in particular has become a focal point for fans who have followed his rapid rise, including his 103.7 mph record pitch and Milwaukee’s recent rally in Colorado. He has gone from a name attached to a highlight to one tied directly to an award chase.
The opening for those two widened when Shohei Ohtani, once a favorite in the National League conversation, saw expectations cool. His playing time is being managed after recent knee issues, and that reality has made it harder to treat him as the clear center of the race. He still matters, but the conditions around him do not point to the same clean run that once seemed possible.
That leaves the award likely to hinge on a blunt question: who stays healthy and keeps starting? Misiorowski and Sanchez have the momentum now, but the Cy Young race will not be settled by reputation. It will be decided by the next month of rotation turns, the next medical update and the simplest test in pitching — who keeps showing up.
