This Shreveport-Bossier Native Could Win the Cy Young in 2024

Over the years, I've written many times about how awesome Shreveport-Bossier Native Seth Lugo is. From all accounts, he's a really good dude. And, according to his Baseball Reference page, he's a darn good pitcher. But, there's a difference between being a really good pitcher - which Seth has been his entire career - and being elite. When you think of Elite pitchers you think about guys like Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Pedro Martinez, etc.. And I don't think anyone ever thought of Seth Lugo as elite. Well, that is until this year.

Seth Lugo's Journey from Shreveport-Bossier to the Kansas City Royals

To understand why Seth Lugo is surprising so many experts this year, you have to look at his career as a whole up until this point. For the first 7 years of his big league career, he was mostly just a bullpen arm for the Mets. He excelled at that role. So much so that the Mets wanted to retain his services in 2023. However, Seth had different career plans - he wanted to be a starter.

So, he opted to sign a deal with the San Diego Padres. And last season, with the opportunity to be a starter, he showed he could be a darn good starter. On a middle of the pack Padres team he won 8 games, made a career high 26 starts and had a solid 3.57 ERA. Not exactly light the world on fire numbers, but some of that was skewed by a bad Padres team that fell way short of expectations.

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Fast forward to this year and Seth inks a deal with the upstart Royals. Lots of young talent. Lots of unproven talent. But, talented nonetheless. They just needed some pieces to tie everything together. And guess what? The Royals have indeed tied things together. The Royals are 25-17 and only a half game out of first place in the AL Central. One of the biggest factors in the Royals early season success is Seth Lugo being absolutely lights out.

Can Shreveport-Bossier Native Seth Lugo Win the Cy Young?

We're about a 1/3rd of the way through the MLB season. And, thus far, Seth Lugo has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball. Currently he leads the league in wins (6), Innings Pitched (59.2) and ERA (1.66). In 2 short years, Seth Lugo has gone from really good bullpen arm to top flight starter.

Now, the big question is whether or not he can keep doing what he's been doing. That remains to be seen. BUT, as long as he stays healthy and the team stays healthy around him, I don't see why he can't keep playing at an extremely high level.

He's got a knee-buckling curveball and a defense behind him that can make outs. He's pacing to have a career high in strikeouts...but what he does best is getting weak contact from hitters. The defense in San Diego was less than stellar, however in Kansas City with Bobby Witt anchoring the infield, the Royals are pretty darn good defensively. He bet on himself to be a front line starter. A lot of people thought he'd end up back in the bullpen. But, here he is leading the Majors in several statistical categories.

Corbin Burnes & Tarik Skubal are betting favorites to win the AL Cy Young Award in 2024 as the leagues best pitchers. Seth is 7th on the betting odds list. But, with every passing start, the odds improve for Seth Lugo. As they should. He's done nothing but absolutely dominate on the diamond. And, so far, there are no signs he or the Royals are going to slow down or regress.