Fallica Backs Hancock for AL Cy Young, Sky Over 18.5 Wins
Chris "The Bear" Fallica has placed a futures bet on Seattle Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock to win the American League Cy Young Award at +8000 odds. He also backs the Chicago Sky to surpass 18.5 regular-season wins and Chennedy Carter for WNBA Sixth Player of the Year at +480. These "Bear Bets" are actual wagers Fallica is making amid the early MLB season and the WNBA's season tip-off this week.
Tarik Skubal's injury has opened the AL Cy Young race, with Cam Schlittler as the favorite ahead of Corbin Burnes, Dylan Cease and Jacob deGrom. Hancock, a 26-year-old Mariners starter, enters Friday's outing at the Chicago White Sox with a 2.56 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. Opponents hit .225 against him, 45 points lower than last year.
The Sky follow a poor 2025-26 season marked by coaching changes and trading Angel Reese to Atlanta. Additions include backcourt players Skylar Diggins, Jacy Sheldon, DiJonai Carrington and Natasha Cloud alongside forwards Rickea Jackson and Kamilla Cardoso, the third and fourth picks from the 2024 draft. Carter averaged 17.5 points with the Sky last year and now joins champion Las Vegas, where Jewell Loyd is expected to start.
Hancock has increased from 60.2 innings to 90 innings pitched, posting 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings and an 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Sky ranked near the bottom offensively and defensively last season despite Reese's rebounding.
