Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto's competition for Cy Young is Phillies lefty, not Paul Skenes
This is a bit different from what many would've expected to begin the year.
Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto's competition for Cy Young is Phillies lefty, not Paul Skenes originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top team in all of Major League Baseball and have the best chances of winning the World Series this season.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the ace of the Dodgers' pitching staff, is also a leading candidate for the NL Cy Young award in 2026. It's not a surprise, especially after a solid 2026 season debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks . However, as ESPN's David Schoenfield noted, following the initial series of the year across all MLB teams, Yamamoto's biggest competition for the NL Cy Young award isn't Paul Skenes, but instead a Philadelphia Phillies lefty.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto's top Cy Young competition is Phillies lefty "The NL Cy Young race is wide open after the Pirates' collapse," Schoenfield writes. "Meanwhile, fellow National League Cy Young contenders Cristopher Sanchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto found better success in their Opening Day starts. " While Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates Cy Young winner from a year ago, would easily be the top contender for the Cy Young award this season, his disastrous season debut has opened the door for a new winner.
It might only be one start, but Skenes now has a 67. 50 ERA after allowing five runs in just 0. 2 innings pitched against the New York Mets on Opening Day.