#tarik-skubal

#tarik-skubal

Skubal seems all but guaranteed to win his second straight AL Cy Young Award. For good reason, too. Through Monday, the lefty was 12-4 with an AL-best 2.18 ERA and 11.2 K/9 ratio, and an MLB-best 216 strikeouts. He also led all AL pitchers with a 6.2 bWAR and his 0.87 WHIP was the best in the bigs. These numbers are also why he's in the running for a second straight pitching Triple Crown (leading in wins, ERA and strikeouts), and why he did so well in this vote.

Jeff Passan: Under 61, but not by much. The Seattle Mariners have 31 games remaining. Raleigh has had two distinct 31-game spans this year in which he has hit at least a dozen home runs -- the number he needs to get to 61 -- so it's possible. Now that he has passed Salvador Perez for the most in a season by a catcher, Raleigh can target the Mariners' franchise record of 56 set by Ken Griffey Jr. in 1997.

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers were named All-Star Game starters, representing the National League and American League respectively.