Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal, Boston Red Sox's Garrett Crochet, and the Houston Astros' Hunter Brown are the finalists for the AL.
Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes, and Philadelphia Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez are the finalists for the NL.
American League
Skubal, the former 2024 Cy Young Award winner, finished the season with a 13-6 record, tossing an AL-best 2.21 earned run average in 195.1 innings (t-2nd most) with the second-most strikeouts (241).
His 0.89 WHIP was the best in all of baseball and was just one of three others to have a WHIP below 1.00 with at least 30 starts. Opponents hit just .200 against Skubal all season.
Should Skubal win, he will join Hall of Famers Denny McLain (1968–1969), Jim Palmer (1975–1976), Roger Clemens (1986–1987,1997–1998), and
Pedro Martinez (1999–2000) as the only AL pitchers to win back-to-back Cy Youngs.
Next is Crochet, who finished with an 18-5 record and 2.95 ERA through 205.1 innings with a league-leading 255 strikeouts.
The two-time All-Star's 1.03 WHIP was the eighth-best in the MLB and the highest among AL Cy Young candidates, while opposing batters hit .203 against him this season.
Much like Skubal, Crochet also tossed a single complete-game shutout this season.
The final AL candidate in Brown finished with a 13-9 record and the third-best ERA (2.43) in the MLB this season.
He finished below Skubal and Crochet with 206 strikeouts and 185.1 innings. His 1.03 WHIP tied with Crochet while opposing batters hit .203 against Brown this season.
Brown took a drastic leap in just his fourth season in the majors. Despite being a long shot to win over Skubal and Crochet, Brown will undoubtedly become a household name next season.
National League
Skenes, the favourite to win, led the MLB with a jaw-dropping 1.97 ERA in 187.2 innings of work with a 10-10 record in 32 starts.
His 216 strikeouts were tied for the second-most in the National League behind Logan Webb's 224, while his 0.94 WHIP was the best in the NL and fourth-best in the MLB.
His .199 opponent's batting average was the third-best in the NL and his 11 home runs given up were the fewest among all Cy Young candidates across both leagues.
Next up is the World Series MVP himself in Yamamoto, who led the entire MLB with an opponent batting average of .183.
Yamamoto put up the second-best ERA (2.41) in the NL and finished with 201 strikeouts in 173.2 innings of work during the regular season, ending with a 12-8 record in 30 starts.
Should Yamamoto win, he would become the first-ever Japanese-born player to win the NL Cy Young Award.
Although postseason performance doesn't count toward the MVP, voters might show recency bias by giving his postseason performances some weight.
The final candidate for the NL is Sanchez, who finished with a 2.50 ERA and 212 strikeouts through 202.0 innings.
His 13-5 record is one of the best among all Cy Young candidates from both leagues, while his 8.0 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) was the best among all NL pitchers.
Sanchez finished with a 1.06 WHIP with opponents batting .207 off him this season.
Should Sanchez win the long shot, he would be the first Phillies pitcher to win the NL Cy Young Award since the late Roy Halladay (2010).