MLB Cy Young Ladder: Tanner Houck is anchoring a Red Sox playoff push with career year

The Boston Red Sox entered the season with bottom-10 odds to make the playoffs. But after more than two months of play, they’re in the thick of the AL wild card race thanks to a pitching staff with the league’s fifth-best ERA.

At the top of that rotation has been Tanner Houck, who holds a 2.14 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and good Cy Young value in a breakout season. Those +800 odds won’t stay so high if he keeps it up. According to J.P. Long, Houck is the only pitcher in the Live Ball Era to record an ERA of 2.25 or lower, allow two or fewer home runs and hold a strikeout/walk ratio of 5.00 or higher in the first 15 starts of a season.

That’s the type of stuff that has him at the top of this week’s American League Cy Young ladder.

Tanner Houck is the only pitcher in the Live Ball Era to record all of the following in their first 15 starts of a season:

– ERA of 2.25 or lower
– 2 or fewer HR allowed
– K-to-BB ratio of 5.00 or higher

— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) June 19, 2024

Here’s a look at the rest of your  AL and NL leaders, with stats updated as of Sunday afternoon and odds from BetMGM.

AL Cy Young Ladder

1. Tanner Houck, Boston Red Sox (+800)

The AL’s ERA leader, Houck is finally starting to get some wins to go with his stellar stats. The Red Sox have won six straight games started by Houck, with the pitcher posting a 4-0 record in the span.

2. Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals (+3500)

Lugo’s 10 wins are tied for the major league lead and stand alone at the top of the AL. But more than that, he’s maintaining a 2.42 ERA while pitching the AL’s second-most innings.

3. Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (+220)

Skubal might be higher if not for a recent two-game losing skid where he allowed eight runs over 10 innings to raise his ERA from 1.92 to 2.50.

4. Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles (+275)

Burnes hasn’t pitched fewer than six innings in a game since April. He’s eating innings for the Orioles and doing keeping teams off the scoreboard while doing it.

5. Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners (+1200)

Gilbert pitched eight-inning shutouts in each of his last two starts, demonstrating exactly why he leads the majors in innings pitched while still holding a respectable 2.71 ERA.

NL Cy Young Ladder

1. Ranger Suárez, Philadelphia Phillies (+350)

Suárez led my last NL Cy Young Ladder after starting the season 7-0 and he’s been just as good since, despite finally dropping his first game. Suárez is 10-1 on the season, and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game outside of that one loss in May.

2. Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers (+400)

The flamethrower Glasnow leads the majors in strikeouts, holds a sub-3.00 ERA and he’s coming on strong lately. He’s allowed just five hits and one earned run over his last 14 innings, while striking out 19.

3. Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies (+225)

Wheeler is top three in the NL in wins, quality starts, ERA and strikeouts. His numbers would be even better without the occasional blip like last Sunday’s game in Baltimore where he allowed eight runs in four innings.

4. Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox (+700)

Don’t let Sale’s 5.09 ERA in June fool you, that’s all on account of one bad outing against the Athletics to start the month. He’s been otherwise almost as good as he was in May, where he posted a 0.56 ERA over five starts.

5. Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants (+1400)

Webb’s been steady enough over the NL’s second-most innings pitched to earn a spot on this ladder, tying for the league’s lead in quality starts while getting his ERA below 3.00.