Paul Skenes is off to a historic start to his career and is in the National League Cy Young Award race.
The Flames pitcher, who threw seven no-hitter innings against the Brewers on Thursday, has the third-best odds on the senior circuit to win the award at +1200 at FanDuel Sportsbook.
The only two players above him on the FanDuel odds board are Zack Wheeler and Chris Sale, both with odds of +135.
The 22-year-old Skenes has posted an impressive 1.90 ERA with 89 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 66 1/3 innings since making his debut just two months ago on May 11.
Hitters have hit a terrible .202/.251/.319 line against him, and after just 11 starts he has catapulted himself into the conversation as the best pitcher in baseball.
His performance so far in the major leagues has elevated him into historic territory.
With another dominant performance Thursday, Skenes joined Nolan Ryan as only two pitchers to pitch six-plus innings, strike out 11 or more batters and throw multiple no-hitters in the same season. From MLB.com.
89 strikeouts Fifth most in MLB history With 11 career games played, he finished behind only Kerry Wood, Hideo Nomo, Herb Score and Jose DeLeon in total appearances.
Despite pitching in the minor leagues for the first month of the season, oddsmakers are low-balling Skenes to become just the 19th pitcher since 1900 with 200 strikeouts in a season (+560, FanDuel).
Everything you need to know about MLB betting
While his chances of winning the Cy Young Award remain slim, Skenes is a near certainty in the eyes of oddsmakers to win National League Rookie of the Year honors.
With half a season left to win the award, he is -550 odds to win, and no one else is better than +350.
Already an All-Star, Skenes is looking to make more history in the Midsummer Classic, potentially becoming just the fifth starting pitcher to do so, joining Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Mark Fidrych (1976) and Dave Stenhouse (1962), according to MLB.com.
