Best MLB Home Runs Matchups — Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Top home runs spot: Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (LAD) tops the board at 100, facing RHP Luis Castillo. The lefty is going deep on .042 HR/PA against righties this year — and .000 over the last two weeks, big-time bat that turns into a home run in about 6% of his trips. And Luis Castillo has been getting taken deep by righties lately — .067 home runs per batter faced. The bullpen behind him is roughly average to that side. He's hitting in a spot worth about 4.7 trips, so the volume's there. He's owned Luis Castillo too — .308 across 13 career trips. It all sets up in a neutral park, weather helping.
The rest of the top of the board
- Munetaka Murakami (CWS) (100) vs RHP Gerrit Cole: elite bat at .072 into an arm getting taken deep by the same side (.063).
- Hunter Goodman (COL) (88) vs RHP Michael King: elite bat at .067 into an arm getting taken deep by the same side (.056), hot bat.
- James Wood (WSH) (75) vs RHP Shane Bieber: big-time bat at .050 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000).
- Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT) (73) vs RHP Brandon Pfaadt: big-time bat at .060 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000).
- Byron Buxton (MIN) (72) vs RHP Seth Lugo: big-time bat at .065 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000), due to bounce back.
- Yordan Alvarez (HOU) (69) vs LHP Reid Detmers: big-time bat at .057 into an arm getting taken deep by the same side (.071).
- Rafael Devers (SF) (65) vs RHP Logan Henderson: big-time bat at .051 into an arm getting taken deep by the same side (.077), due to bounce back.
Platoon edges to target
- Shohei Ohtani (LAD) — lefty bat vs RHP, .042 against righties this year.
- Munetaka Murakami (CWS) — lefty bat vs RHP, .085 against righties this year.
- James Wood (WSH) — lefty bat vs RHP, .063 against righties this year.
- Rafael Devers (SF) — lefty bat vs RHP, .058 against righties this year.
- Max Muncy (LAD) — lefty bat vs RHP, .053 against righties this year.
How it played out
3 of the top 10 home runs matchups landed at least one home run. Top play Shohei Ohtani finished with 1 home run. 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.
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