Who has the best home runs matchup today (Saturday, July 18, 2026)?

Jo Adell (LAA) — top of the board at 100, facing LHP Tarik Skubal. Big-time bat into a beatable arm is what pushes it to No. 1.

What are the best MLB home runs matchups today (Saturday, July 18, 2026)?

The top home runs matchups on Saturday, July 18, 2026: Jo Adell (100), Esmerlyn Valdez (100), James Wood (100), Zach Neto (93), Kyle Schwarber (92). The full board ranks every hitter in every game by home runs upside.

Did the top home runs matchup get a home run on Saturday, July 18, 2026?

No — Jo Adell didn't record a home run.

Which hitters have a platoon edge today?

Jo Adell (LAA) — righty bat vs LHP, .071 against lefties this year. Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT) — righty bat vs LHP, .147 against lefties this year. James Wood (WSH) — lefty bat vs RHP, .066 against righties this year. Zach Neto (LAA) — righty bat vs LHP, .048 against lefties this year. Munetaka Murakami (CWS) — lefty bat vs RHP, .087 against righties this year.

How is the home runs matchup score calculated?

It starts with his home-run rate per trip against that hand, weighted to recent form, then a two-year baseline so a hot fortnight doesn't run away with it. Then the arm's fly-ball tendencies, the bullpen, and the park and wind. Scores run 0–100 across the slate.

What does HR/PA mean?

It's the share of a hitter's plate appearances that end in a home run. Around .030 (3%) is league average. Elite power runs .065+. We measure it per trip to the plate, which is what a daily matchup comes down to.

What does the score actually mean?

Higher is better. But read this board knowing home runs are the rarest thing on the site: a 95 is a great spot, not a likely event. It ranks today's spots against each other — nobody's projected to go deep more often than not.

What's the confidence meter?

It's how much data is behind the call — sample size on both the hitter and the pitcher, plus whether the lineup's official. A high score with low confidence is a thinner read than the same score backed by a deep track record. It's not a probability of a home run.

What is a platoon split (handedness split)?

Power splits are sharper than contact splits. A lefty bat vs. a righty arm gets the pull-side dimensions and the breaking ball spinning into the barrel instead of away from it — that's the platoon split doing its loudest work. Same hitter, same swing, very different odds of one leaving.

What are park factors?

This is the board where the yard matters most. Dimensions, altitude, and a warm wind out can swing a fly ball from a track-out to a souvenir. Above 1.00 bumps the score, below 1.00 trims it — the same bat grades higher in Denver than in Detroit, and it should.

What do "2W", "SZN" and "2Y" mean?

The timeframes behind each rate: the last two weeks (recent form), the current season, and a trailing two years (a stable baseline). Recent form counts most, and small samples get pulled toward league average so a hot week doesn't fool the model.

What do "≈ est", "Due" and "Not starting" mean?

"≈ est" is a hitter we don't have splits for yet — a rookie or unmatched ID — shown at a league-baseline estimate instead of dropped. "Due" means he hasn't recorded a home run in a while and profiles for regression. "Not starting" means he was projected but didn't make the official lineup, so he slides to the bottom where you can still look him up.

Can I use this for home runs props or DFS?

That's what it's built for — pre-slate research. The board surfaces which hitters have the best conditions today, and where one exists, we show the book's "1+ home run" line so you can shop the price. We're not a sportsbook and we don't post picks — we show the matchup data, the line, and the result. (Best-price and all-book odds are a Pro feature.)

How accurate is the model?

We grade every board against the box score. Home runs are rare enough that the honest measure is rate over a season, not a week — the top of this board goes deep meaningfully more often than the slate, and you can check any past date to see it.

When do lineups update?

Projected lineups (marked "Proj") come from each team's last game. Official lineups usually drop about two hours before first pitch, and the board updates itself as they post. Batting order is a big driver, so it's worth a second look mid-afternoon — rankings shift as lineups lock.

Yes. The full board, every game page, and the daily archive are free, no login. Best-price odds and the betting tools are the paid tier.

Best MLB home runs matchups — Saturday, July 18, 2026

Every slugger on the Saturday, July 18, 2026 slate — ranked by who's most likely to hit a home run. Results show how each call played out.

Get notified on every DINGER today. Distance, exit velo, and launch angle the moment anyone goes yard — turn on live HR alerts.

How the model did — Saturday, July 18, 2026

Our top 5 hitters went 1/5 (20%) on 1+ home run, against 21% on the season.

Top call Kyle Schwarber came through. Jo Adell didn't.

Each slugger below carries a 0–100 matchup score — a read on the spot in front of him, not a ranking of how good he is, so a star in a brutal matchup can sit below an average slugger in a soft one. Confidence next to it is coverage: how much real data backs the number. Every call here was graded against the box score — wins and misses both, with the record on this page. How this board is built →

Final · 7–1

PITaway

CLEhomeTop matchup76 Final · 2–6

MINaway

CHChomeTop matchup65 Final · 1–6

NYMaway

PHIhomeTop matchup92 Final · 0–1

CWSaway

TORhomeTop matchup91 Final · 3–10

CINaway

COLhomeTop matchup64 Final · 6–7

TBaway

BOShomeTop matchup74 Final · 7–6

TEXaway

ATLhomeTop matchup55 Final · 6–8

MIAaway

MILhomeTop matchup58 Final · 4–2

BALaway

HOUhomeTop matchup66 Final · 1–6

SDaway

KChomeTop matchup49 Final · 3–5

STLaway

AZhomeTop matchup44 Final · 3–5

PITaway

CLEhomeTop matchup100 Final · 3–4

SFaway

SEAhomeTop matchup64 Final · 1–15

WSHaway

ATHhomeTop matchup100 Final · 7–0

DETaway

LAAhomeTop matchup100

Not starting61 not in the official lineup — moved to the bottom

PosSort

#Hitter · Matchup · 331 shownScore

Best MLB Home Runs Matchups — Saturday, July 18, 2026

Jo Adell (LAA) is the top home runs matchup on the Saturday, July 18, 2026 board at 100, with Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT) and James Wood (WSH) right behind. Every hitter on the slate is ranked by who's most likely to hit a home run — power, the park, handedness splits, and how this arm gives up the long ball. It's the read DFS and prop players make before lock.

Top home runs spot: Jo Adell

Jo Adell (LAA) tops the board at 100, facing LHP Tarik Skubal. The righty is going deep on .071 HR/PA against lefties this year — and .167 over the last two weeks, big-time bat that turns into a home run in about 6% of his trips. And Tarik Skubal has been mostly containing lefties lately — .033 home runs per batter faced. The bullpen behind him is roughly average to that side. He's hitting in a spot worth about 4.3 trips, so the volume's there. He's owned Tarik Skubal too — .400 across 5 career trips. It all sets up in a neutral park.

The rest of the top of the board

Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT) (100) vs LHP Logan Allen: elite bat at .076 into an arm with little track record against the same side.
James Wood (WSH) (100) vs RHP J.T. Ginn: big-time bat at .054 into an arm getting taken deep by the same side (.100).
Zach Neto (LAA) (93) vs LHP Tarik Skubal: real bat at .050 into an arm mostly containing the same side (.033).
Kyle Schwarber (PHI) (92) vs LHP Sean Manaea: big-time bat at .063 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000).
Munetaka Murakami (CWS) (91) vs RHP Shane Bieber: elite bat at .071 into an arm homer-prone to the same side (.048).
Riley Greene (DET) (87) vs RHP Grayson Rodriguez: real bat at .049 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000).
Kerry Carpenter (DET) (78) vs RHP Grayson Rodriguez: big-time bat at .055 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000), due to bounce back.

Platoon edges to target

Jo Adell (LAA) — righty bat vs LHP, .071 against lefties this year.
Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT) — righty bat vs LHP, .147 against lefties this year.
James Wood (WSH) — lefty bat vs RHP, .066 against righties this year.
Zach Neto (LAA) — righty bat vs LHP, .048 against lefties this year.
Munetaka Murakami (CWS) — lefty bat vs RHP, .087 against righties this year.

How it played out

1 of the top 10 home runs matchups landed at least one home run. Top play Jo Adell finished with 0 home runs. We post the result next to every projection so you can grade the board yourself — and so the model gets re-tuned against what actually happened.

How to read these home runs matchups

Each score (0–100) starts with the hitter's home runs per plate appearance against the hand he's facing — weighted toward the last two weeks, then the season, then a two-year baseline. Then it layers in the bullpen, his spot in the order, and park and weather. Higher means more of it points his way. It's context, not a lock — a great spot still goes 0-for-4 sometimes, and a tough one runs into one. The edge is in stacking the odds, and since we grade every board, you can see how often the top of the list delivers.

Keep reading

What the home runs board is

The Home Runs board projects the chance a hitter goes deep, park and matchup baked in. One statistical model scores every matchup on the slate the same way — a star and a backup judged on the matchup in front of them, not their name — and every number is graded against the real box score once the games go final.

How the model gets its number

It isn't a gut call or a name game. The projection is built from a few things:

The hitter's power vs the pitcher's hand.
The park's home-run environment and the wind.
How hard and how often he hits it in the air.

Those pieces combine into one number, and the model re-tunes itself weekly against how its past calls actually landed.

Is there a betting edge here?

Home runs is one of the most efficiently priced props in the sport — every config we've backtested loses to the line, and our disagreements point away from the book's mistakes, not toward them. So HR is a transparency board: our projection, graded, no play attached. The honest read is the book is simply sharper here.

How to use it

Read it for who's in a live spot to run into one — but don't bet the WizLine against the line; there's no edge to press.

Everything here is a research signal from the model, graded in public — not betting advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.

Learn more: How the model works · The picks story · Today's plays

Frequently asked questions

Who has the best home runs matchup today (Saturday, July 18, 2026)?: Jo Adell (LAA) — top of the board at 100, facing LHP Tarik Skubal. Big-time bat into a beatable arm is what pushes it to No. 1.
What are the best MLB home runs matchups today (Saturday, July 18, 2026)?: The top home runs matchups on Saturday, July 18, 2026: Jo Adell (100), Esmerlyn Valdez (100), James Wood (100), Zach Neto (93), Kyle Schwarber (92). The full board ranks every hitter in every game by home runs upside.
Did the top home runs matchup get a home run on Saturday, July 18, 2026?: No — Jo Adell didn't record a home run.
Which hitters have a platoon edge today?: Jo Adell (LAA) — righty bat vs LHP, .071 against lefties this year. Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT) — righty bat vs LHP, .147 against lefties this year. James Wood (WSH) — lefty bat vs RHP, .066 against righties this year. Zach Neto (LAA) — righty bat vs LHP, .048 against lefties this year. Munetaka Murakami (CWS) — lefty bat vs RHP, .087 against righties this year.
How is the home runs matchup score calculated?: It starts with his home-run rate per trip against that hand, weighted to recent form, then a two-year baseline so a hot fortnight doesn't run away with it. Then the arm's fly-ball tendencies, the bullpen, and the park and wind. Scores run 0–100 across the slate.
What does HR/PA mean?: It's the share of a hitter's plate appearances that end in a home run. Around .030 (3%) is league average. Elite power runs .065+. We measure it per trip to the plate, which is what a daily matchup comes down to.
What does the score actually mean?: Higher is better. But read this board knowing home runs are the rarest thing on the site: a 95 is a great spot, not a likely event. It ranks today's spots against each other — nobody's projected to go deep more often than not.
What's the confidence meter?: It's how much data is behind the call — sample size on both the hitter and the pitcher, plus whether the lineup's official. A high score with low confidence is a thinner read than the same score backed by a deep track record. It's not a probability of a home run.
What is a platoon split (handedness split)?: Power splits are sharper than contact splits. A lefty bat vs. a righty arm gets the pull-side dimensions and the breaking ball spinning into the barrel instead of away from it — that's the platoon split doing its loudest work. Same hitter, same swing, very different odds of one leaving.
What are park factors?: This is the board where the yard matters most. Dimensions, altitude, and a warm wind out can swing a fly ball from a track-out to a souvenir. Above 1.00 bumps the score, below 1.00 trims it — the same bat grades higher in Denver than in Detroit, and it should.
What do "2W", "SZN" and "2Y" mean?: The timeframes behind each rate: the last two weeks (recent form), the current season, and a trailing two years (a stable baseline). Recent form counts most, and small samples get pulled toward league average so a hot week doesn't fool the model.
What do "≈ est", "Due" and "Not starting" mean?: "≈ est" is a hitter we don't have splits for yet — a rookie or unmatched ID — shown at a league-baseline estimate instead of dropped. "Due" means he hasn't recorded a home run in a while and profiles for regression. "Not starting" means he was projected but didn't make the official lineup, so he slides to the bottom where you can still look him up.
Can I use this for home runs props or DFS?: That's what it's built for — pre-slate research. The board surfaces which hitters have the best conditions today, and where one exists, we show the book's "1+ home run" line so you can shop the price. We're not a sportsbook and we don't post picks — we show the matchup data, the line, and the result. (Best-price and all-book odds are a Pro feature.)
How accurate is the model?: We grade every board against the box score. Home runs are rare enough that the honest measure is rate over a season, not a week — the top of this board goes deep meaningfully more often than the slate, and you can check any past date to see it.
When do lineups update?: Projected lineups (marked "Proj") come from each team's last game. Official lineups usually drop about two hours before first pitch, and the board updates itself as they post. Batting order is a big driver, so it's worth a second look mid-afternoon — rankings shift as lineups lock.
Is MatchWiz free?: Yes. The full board, every game page, and the daily archive are free, no login. Best-price odds and the betting tools are the paid tier.