Best MLB Home Runs Matchups — Saturday, September 12, 2026
Top home runs spot: Juan Soto
Juan Soto (NYM) tops the board at 100, facing RHP Gerrit Cole. The lefty is going deep on .073 HR/PA against righties this year — and .086 over the last two weeks, big-time bat that turns into a home run in about 6% of his trips. And Gerrit Cole has been mostly containing righties lately — .032 home runs per batter faced. One catch: the bullpen behind him has been stingy to that side late. He's hitting in a spot worth about 4.5 trips, so the volume's there. No real history against Gerrit Cole. It all sets up in a neutral park.
The rest of the top of the board
- Kyle Schwarber (PHI) (99) vs RHP Tyler Mahle: elite bat at .068 into an arm mostly containing the same side (.029), due to bounce back.
- Aaron Judge (NYY) (96) vs LHP Zac Thornton: elite bat at .066 into an arm with little track record against the same side.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) (88) vs RHP Paul Skenes: big-time bat at .061 into an arm leaking power to the same side (.038), hot bat.
- Munetaka Murakami (CWS) (87) vs RHP Kyle Leahy: big-time bat at .065 into an arm getting taken deep by the same side (.087), due to bounce back.
- Junior Caminero (TB) (78) vs RHP Peter Lambert: big-time bat at .063 into an arm homer-prone to the same side (.042).
- James Wood (WSH) (74) vs RHP Walbert Ureña: real bat at .048 into an arm mostly containing the same side (.029).
- Pete Alonso (BAL) (73) vs RHP Spencer Miles: big-time bat at .053 into an arm keeping the ball in the park against the same side (.000).
Platoon edges to target
- Juan Soto (NYM) — lefty bat vs RHP, .073 against righties this year.
- Kyle Schwarber (PHI) — lefty bat vs RHP, .074 against righties this year.
- Aaron Judge (NYY) — righty bat vs LHP, .065 against lefties this year.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — lefty bat vs RHP, .067 against righties this year.
- Munetaka Murakami (CWS) — lefty bat vs RHP, .073 against righties this year.
Lineup watch
270 of today's hitters are still on projected lineups, drawn from each team's last game. Batting order drives the score, so these flip the moment official lineups post — usually about two hours before first pitch. Anyone who doesn't make the official card gets flagged "Not starting" and drops to the bottom.
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