Chris Sale’s Sliding Cy Young Odds Reflect Red Sox Ace’s Rough Spring

Oddsmakers are starting to lose faith in Chris Sale’s ability to be great again.

FanDuel Sportsbook set the Boston Red Sox pitcher’s odds of winning the American League Cy Young Award at +950 on Monday. Sale’s Cy Young lines are third-best, trailing the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander’s +800 and the New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole’s +280.

Elbow inflammation ended Sale’s 2019 season in August, and he hoped to enjoy a bounce-back season in 2020. However, a bout of pneumonia slowed him at the start of spring training, and the flexor-tendon strain with which he was diagnosed last week has cast doubt on his recovery and raised the prospect of surgery.

Here’s how these twin setbacks have affected Sale’s AL Cy Young odds: Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook gave him +500 odds Jan. 28, second only to Cole’s +250. DraftKings Sportsbook extended Sale’s Cy Young lines to +700 on Feb. 18, pegging him behind Verlander and Cole in the favorites’ order in the aftermath of his illness. Sale’s latest elbow woes have prompted Sale’s lines to slide again, this time to +950.

That trend is bound to continue until he returns to the mound and proves he remains one of baseball’s elite pitchers.

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