The undefeated Italians meet Venezuela on Monday night with a spot in the Championship Game of the World Baseball Classic on the line. Team USA won the first Semifinal on Sunday in an epic matchup with the Dominican Republic, and they’ll take on the winner of this game on Tuesday for the title. First pitch will be at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1, and it should be another raucous environment in Miami. While Venezuela is favored at -185 on the Moneyline, another way to attack the matchup is by finding a few home run prop bets that are strong plays in the contest. On Monday, I’m targeting Ronald Acuna Jr. and Andrew Fischer to go yard.
DraftKings Sportsbook has some batter and pitcher props available for this semifinal, so let’s take a look at my top three best bets for this awesome WBC matchup on Monday night.
Top World Baseball Classic Home Run Props
Ronald Acuna Jr. 1+ Home Run (+295)
Acuna led off the Quarterfinal with a blast off Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Acuna has gone 5-for-18 with a double, two homers, and nine runs scored in his five games in the tournament.
The Braves’ outfielder is very familiar with Team Italy starter Aaron Nola, and has gone 16-for-52 (.308) against him with four home runs in their previous meetings in the MLB. Acuna and the Venezuelans will likely have the crowd behind them again on Monday in Miani, and he’ll look to get his team off to a fast start like he did against Japan.
Any player to hit a home run is a longshot play, but Acuna is dialed in at the plate and gets a matchup he shoud be comfortable in on Monday night.
Andrew Fischer 1+ Home Runs (+1100)
Italy’s lineup doesn’t have the depth that Venezuela offers, but they have some young players who are stepping up for them in complementary roles. Fischer is one of those young bats who has been excellent in the touranment so far, and I’m taking him as a long-shot to go deep on Monday.
Fischer kicked off this espresso celebration with his first dinger of the tournament:
He came just a few feet from another homer in the Quarterfinals against Puerto Rico, when fan interference led to a two-run double with the bases loaded instead of a Grand Slam.
Fischer has only played three games for Italy but is 4-for-11 with two doubles and a home run. He also homered this spring for the Brewers in one of his five spring training at-bats.
While he’s still probably a ways from making his MLB Debut, Fischer is definitely a prospect to watch. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the top 3B prospect in baseball after the Brewers took him with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. He had a strong 19 games with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers after the draft and is likely to rise quickly through the system, especially if he keeps raking like he has this spring and in the tournament.
The lefty Fischer will be on the strong side of the splits against Venezuela starter Keider Montero, who gave up 16 homers last season, 10 to lefties. Left-handed hitters hit .282 against him with a .384 wOBA, which should help the Italians, since their lineup is extremely lefty-heavy, including Fischer, who I like as a long shot in my home run props for Monday night.
