It didn’t take long for Corbin Burnes to take over as the betting favorite for the American League Cy Young Award.
Barnes absolutely dominated in his debut with Baltimore, giving up 11 hits in six impressive innings in the Orioles’ 11-3 opening game win over the Los Angeles Angels.
The O’s ace struck out 18 of the 19 batters he faced and only allowed a solo home run to Mike Trout in the first inning.
According to MLB.com, Burns became the first pitcher since 1934 to strike out more than 10 batters and allow fewer than two hits in a team’s opening game.
With just one great start, Barnes quickly separated himself from the pack in the AL Cy Young Award race.
Barnes currently sits atop BetMGM Sportsbook’s American League Cy Young odds board at +650, earning him the award.
Heading into Thursday’s opener, Barnes was tied at +800 with Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman.
Three more pitchers, Tarik Skubal (+800), Pablo López (+850), and Luis Castillo (+900), have odds better than 10/1.
Gerrit Cole, the current American League Cy Young Award winner, was the undisputed favorite before an elbow injury put him on the disabled list.
Burns hopes to help the young Orioles meet sky-high expectations for the team, which has the best preseason over/under record in the past 25 years.
The three-time All-Star was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Orioles in early February, giving Baltimore the true No. 1 starter they had been looking for all offseason.
Baltimore won 101 games last season and won the American League East for the second time since 1997.
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They opened the season as co-favorites to win the division with the New York Yankees at +180 odds.
Barnes has finished in the top 10 in National League Cy Young Award voting in each of the past four seasons and will win the award in 2021.
There’s still a lot of baseball to be done, but there’s no doubt that Barnes is off to a great start toward winning his second Cy Young.
