Major League Baseball has a full Friday of hard-hitting action this Friday night with all 30 teams in action under the lights, starting at 6:40 p.m. ET or later. Some spots could be cold and wet, while others have more favorable hitting conditions in the forecast. Add in Coors Field for the Yankees, and it should be a fun night to smash some home run props on DraftKings Sportsbook. Home run props are always a fun way to flex your baseball knowledge if you can hit some long-shot bets that go yard. Looking at the options and matchups on the board this Friday, my top three targets for home run props are Cody Bellinger, Taylor Ward, and James Wood.
By their very nature, home run props are long-shot bets, but they are also some of the most fun to hit when they go off. Breaking down the numbers and matchups, here are my top three home run props for Friday, May 23.
Best Home Run Player Props on DraftKings Sportsbook
Cody Bellinger to record 1+ home runs (+280)
The obvious pick in this game is Aaron Judge to record a home run (+125), but I like the odds better for Bellinger, who has three homers in his last five games and is up to eight homers on the season. The lefty has five homers in his last 15 games with eight barrels during that stretch.
Bellinger has eight home runs at Coors Field in his career and is in a good matchup against Tanner Gordon, who didn’t give up a home run in his first MLB start this year but surrendered 10 gopher balls in 34 1/3 innings last season. He gave up six homers in 39 innings in Triple-A, so he hasn’t fixed the issue this year.
Usually, Gordon utilizes a mixture of three pitches: a four-seam fastball, a slider and a changeup. Bellinger feasts on four-seam fastballs from righties, and I think he has a good shot to go deep at Coors Field with better odds than Judge brings. I covered the Yankees great matchup in my MLB stacks for this Friday.
Taylor Ward to record 1+ home runs (+425)
Ward has been scalding hot lately and has six homers in his last 10 games. He has 14 dingers on the year now, and 12 of those have come against right-handed pitchers, like Sandy Alcantara ($7,700), who he’ll face on Friday.
In those 10 games, Ward has a 54.8% hard-hit rate and a 25.8% barrel rate. Alcantara has struggled this year, giving up seven homers in nine starts and posting a 7.99 ERA and 5.36 FIP.
Ward has hit most of his home runs on the road, but that has more to do with the fact that the Angels were just on the load for those 10 games when he was hot than any disadvantage to playing at Angel Stadium. Last year, 12 of his 25 home runs were at home and 21 came against righties.
Getting him at +425 given his current form is one of the juiciest home run props on the board this Friday night.
James Wood to record 1+ home runs (+650)
Wood and the Nationals are home on Friday night in the early game, facing Landen Roupp and the Giants. This number is extremely high for Wood, so I’m ready to take this long shot on the big lefty.
The conditions should be good in Washington with game-time temps near 70 and a nice breeze blowing out to right. It’s also a good matchup, since Roupp has given up six homers in 46 innings this year. All six of those home runs served up have come in his 30 1/3 innings on the road.
Wood has a dozen homers this season, already setting a new career high after smashing nine homers in his first taste of the majors last year. He has a 57.9% hard-hit rate that ranks seventh in the majors and his average exit velocity is also in the top 20 of qualified hitters. He only has three homers in his last 15 games but has a very nice 70.7% hard-hit rate and 19.5% barrel rate that show it isn’t because he’s struggling to make good contact.
With six barrels in his last nine games, I’m looking for Wood to get back in the homer column on Friday night, and he’s one of my top home run props at these very favorable odds.
