Let’s get the weekend started with a home run winner.
Juan Soto and Bobby Witt Jr. are trying to make second-half pushes for AL MVP, and with the way the two are hitting the ball, I expect it to continue on Friday night with favorable matchups on tap.
Meanwhile, can Yusei Kikuchi and a shaky Blue Jays pitching staff be up against it on Friday, leaving opportunities for the likes of long-shot home run hitter Nathaniel Lowe to go deep?
Here’s our favorite home run prop bets for Friday’sSoto is humming at the plate since the All-Star break, hitting .520 since the mid-summer classic.
He’s seeing the ball well and has three homers to his name in six games, and I’m going back to the well in Friday’s matchup against the Red Sox from Fenway Park.
Boston’s home stadium suits lefty sluggers well, and Red Sox starter Brayan Bello struggles against lefties. Bello has allowed 10 home runs to lefties as opposed to five homers to righties, meaning Soto is in line to smash one on FridAnother hitter that’s in prime form out of the All-Star break, Witt Jr. is hitting .696, going 16-for-23 since the team’s resumed play.
Witt is more than capable of generating hard contact and will face soft tossing Kyle Hendricks, who has an xERA of 5.03, bottom 10 percentile in the big leagues. Against a slugger like Witt Jr, who is in the 98th percentile in xSLG, I believe he can tee off on Hendricks and a middling Cubs bullpen.
Nathaniel Lowe
Friday’s long shot will feature Lowe, a Rangers slugger who is hitting nearly .300 against left-handed pitching (.296) but isn’t known for his power against southpaws. Lowe has two home runs against lefties relative to six against righties but has a higher slugging percentage against left-handed pitchingay.
