Monday’s MLB slate comes with a home run menu that’s tough to ignore, especially with a bunch of afternoon starts and the regular season stretch run tightening the focus. The angle here is simple: target power bats against vulnerable pitching, and let the long ball do the rest.
Pete Crow-Armstrong headlines the group. The Cubs star is already sitting on 40 homers and 96 RBIs, and he draws a Brewers staff that will send left-hander Robert Gasser to the mound.
Gasser has allowed 13 home runs in 17 appearances in 2026, and even with the lefty-on-lefty setup, Crow-Armstrong has actually handled southpaws better than right-handers this season. In 178 at-bats against lefties, he’s hitting .298 with 11 home runs and a .947 OPS.
Overall, he’s at .280 with a .946 OPS in 2026, and the power surge has been real: seven homers in the last two weeks and 14 over his last 25 games. At nearly 4/1, he’s the kind of hitter you want when he’s rolling like this.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is another dangerous swing play. Since the All-Star break, the Padres slugger has 15 home runs in 46 games and a .960 OPS, and he’s coming off another homer on Sunday.
He’s listed at +364 to leave the yard against the Nationals in Monday’s series opener, and the matchup lines up well with Jake Irvin on the mound. Irvin has a 5.57 ERA, allowed the most homers in MLB last season, and has given up 15 home runs in 18 appearances in 2026.
Tatis has three home runs in his last six games and nine in his last 24, and Washington’s bullpen doesn’t offer much relief either. The Nationals’ pen ranks 29th in ERA at 5.08 and has surrendered 100 home runs.
Roman Anthony rounds out the card for Boston. The Red Sox youngster missed plenty of time with a partially torn ligament in his right ring finger, but he’s been producing since returning from the injured list.
Across eight games, Anthony has homered twice, hit .286, and posted a .930 OPS. He also went deep for us in this column back on Sept. 2, and he’s back at +563 to homer against the Angels and Grayson Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has had a rough 2026, carrying a 6.03 ERA in 16 starts while allowing 12 home runs, including two in his last outing against the Yankees. Anthony’s three homers this season have all come against right-handed pitching, which makes the price feel appealing if he stays hot.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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