What better way to spend a summer Sunday than with a 15-game MLB slate and a home run prop board full of options?
That’s the lane here: power bets only. And for Aug. 9, the targets are Elly De La Cruz in the first game of the day, Junior Caminero in the matchup between Tampa Bay and Seattle, and Dillon Dingler as the value swing.
Start with De La Cruz, who has looked every bit like one of the game’s most dangerous shortstops. The Reds star has 20 home runs and an .860 OPS this season, and he gets a strong setup against a Washington staff that’s leaning on a bullpen game. The Nationals’ relief corps has allowed a league-high 79 home runs in the 2026 season, which is exactly the kind of number that makes a hitter like De La Cruz pop on a prop board.
He brings the kind of switch-hitting profile that plays in this spot, too. De La Cruz is batting .330 against left-handed pitching and over .250 against right-handed pitching, and he has done more damage against righties with 12 home runs in 2026.
He’s also been locked in lately, carrying an OPS over .900 over the last 28 days, 14 days and seven days. In the last week, he has gone deep twice, and he has five home runs over his last 22 games.
At +414, he’s a live look against a shaky Washington pitching staff.
Caminero is the other big-name power play, and the Rays slugger is arriving with real momentum. Over the last week, he’s hitting .292 with three home runs, bringing his season total to 33. Twenty-six of those have come against right-handed pitching, which matters with Emerson Hancock on the mound for Seattle.
Hancock has turned in a solid 2026 season with a 3.33 ERA, but the homer numbers are there: 15 home runs allowed in 21 appearances. He also sits in just the 48th percentile in ground-ball percentage, a useful detail for a hitter like Caminero who can punish mistakes in the air.
The Rays star is 1-for-3 against Hancock in his career and owns a 1.037 OPS over the last week. At +320, he looks like a strong option, especially with Tampa Bay still chasing the AL East.
Then there’s Dillon Dingler, the name that stands out as the price play. He may not be the first hitter people jump to for a home run prop, but the Tigers catcher has produced 26 homers in 2026 and has been scorching since the break.
Over the last four weeks, he’s hitting .311 with seven home runs across 22 games and 21 starts. Over the last week, he’s up to .370 with three homers in six games and a 1.192 OPS.
The matchup is not soft. Logan Webb has allowed just nine home runs this season and ranks in the 90th percentile in ground-ball percentage.
But Webb has also been taken deep four times in his last six outings, and Dingler has handled right-handed pitching well all year, batting .287 with a .938 OPS and 22 home runs in those matchups. Even against a tough arm, the current form and the price make him hard to ignore.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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