Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star pitcher Paul Skenes +700 to win NL Cy Young

Rookie sensation Paul Skenes is now the third-favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award.

Skenes was named the National League All-Star starting pitcher on Friday as a result of posting a 6-0 record in 11 starts with a 1.90 ERA, 0.920 WHIP, 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.9 walks per nine innings and an 89-13 strikeout/walk ratio in 66.1 innings pitched.

The 22-year-old rookie is now +700 to win the Cy Young Award, trailing only Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale and Philadelphia Phillies ace Zach Wheeler, who are each +135 to win the award.

Skenes would be the second-ever rookie to win the Cy Young Award after Fernando Valenzuela did so with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981.

Five days ago, Skenes wasn't even among the five pitchers with the shortest odds to win the NL Cy Young. His seven-inning outing in a 1-0 Pirates win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday with 11 strikeouts, one walk, zero runs allowed and, most importantly, zero hits allowed saw his odds shorten.

Read more about the MLB AL and NL Cy Young Awards on site.

In the NL Rookie of the Year market, Skenes is a heavy -650 favorite after entering the league with +2000 odds for that award.

Skenes has not allowed more than three runs in a game through the first 11 starts of his MLB career.

He has failed to complete six innings in just two of his starts, and one of those was his MLB debut. Nine of his 11 starts qualified as quality starts.

Among pitchers to face at least 250 batters this year, Skenes ranks first in strikeout percentage (34.9), third in OPS allowed (.570), and fifth in weighted on-base percentage allowed, which measures how often and effectively a player gets on base (.253).

Plus, Skenes has the eighth-fastest fastball (99.1 MPH) among pitchers to face last least 50 batters, and that's good for the fastest four-seamer among starting pitchers.

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.