Vaughn Dalzell breaks down why he’s backing Matt Olson to lead the MLB in home runs.
Home Run Leader: Ohtani vs the Field
The home run leaderboard is heating up as Matt Olson closes in on Shohei Ohtani’s lead-leading 35 homers. Below is the race between Ohtani and the field.
FanDuel odds / home runs hit
Shohei Ohtani (-195) - 35 HRs
Matt Olson (+350) - 32 HRs
Pete Alonso (+1400) - 26 HRs
Mookie Betts (+1800) - 27 HRs
Kyle Schwarber (+2200) - 26 HRs
Luis Robert Jr. (+2700) - 28 HRs
Ronald Acuna Jr. (+5000) - 23 HRs
Rafael Devers (+10000) - 23 HRs
Jorge Soler (+12000) - 24 HRs
Adolis Garcia (+12000) - 24 HRs
Ohtani is falling back in the AL CY Young race and it appears the Angels will focus more on Ohtani’s daily at-bats rather than innings pitched down the stretch.
Last season, Aaron Judge tied an AL record with 62 homers and the next closest was Kyle Schwarber at 46. This year will be a much closer race and with over 70 games remaining for every team, Olson is the top contender to catch Ohtani with Pete Alonso, Mookie Betts, and Kyle Schwarber all decent bets.
Three players in this race are certainly going to break their career highs for homers, Ohtani, Olson, and Betts.
Matt Olson only needs eight homers to pass his career-high of 39 homers from 2021, plus Betts needs nine to break his 35-homer high set last year. The largest total to pass is Ohtani with 46 from 2021, but he should be in store for his first 50-plus homer season.
The only bets worth making right now are Ohtani (-190) or Olson (+350) and I will take the value on Olson and grab Ohtani when he gets +100 or better.
Ohtani has five homers in July already to Olson’s four. If Ohtani slows down over the next week or two, Olson’s odds are going to drastically get shorter by the Angels’ and Braves’ late July series.
Pick: Matt Olson (Risk 1u)
Start off your Sunday with MLB Sunday leadoff on Peacock featuring exclusive games with no blackout restrictions. Check out the schedule now to see if your favorite team is playing and join for one low annual fee.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR BETTING TOOLS:
Live Odds: NFL | NBA | MLB | CFB | CBB | NHL
Player Props: NFL | NBA | MLB | CFB | CBB | NHL