Zach Thompson details his top home run props for Friday, spotlighting Sal Stewart, Salvador Perez, and Taylor Ward.

Major League Baseball has a busy slate of action lined up for this Friday night, as playoff races come down to the wire and drama builds to a crescendo for the final week of the regular season. DraftKings Sportsbook is here to help make the night even more exciting with a 34% HR profit boost token to use on any MLB Home Run single, parlay, SGP, or SGPx bet today. Let’s take a look at some of the home run props on the board from the 15 games under the Friday night lights. After looking at the matchups, game environments, odds and current form of the players available, my favorite home run props come from Sal Stewart, Salvador Perez, and Taylor Ward.

Just a quick reminder before we step to the plate and aim for the fences with these home run props—all home run props are long-shot bets. Even the top home run hitters are more likely not to hit a home run in any single game, so home run props are never “safe” picks. While there are some key indicators that can point us in the right direction, home run props are always volatile plays.

As a result, home run props can be a fun part of your betting strategy, but shouldn’t be heavily relied on since they’re uncertain. What makes home run props exciting is that the longer odds yield big returns when they do hit. I typically play home run props individually and in round robins at a small unit size, boosting the ceiling even higher if multiple home run props go green on a given night.

Breaking down the numbers and matchups, here is why I like these three home run props on Friday.

Best Home Run Props on DraftKings Sportsbook

Sal Stewart to record 1+ home runs (+428)

Stewart and the Reds are at Great American Ballpark, hosting the Cubs this weekend. The Cubs secured their playoff spot on Wednesday by beating the Pirates, and the Reds took the first game of this series on Thursday behind an exceptional performance from Hunter Greene. They are two games behind the Mets for the third NL Wild Card spot with nine games to play.

The Reds will face Shota Imanaga in the second game of the series, and it should be a good homer environment, with game-time temperatures forecast to be in the mid-80s. Imanaga has allowed 26 homers in his 23 starts this year, so he’s a solid matchup to attack with home run props even though his 9-7 record and 3.29 ERA aren’t bad at all.

Righties have hit 23 of the 26 homers off him this year with a .290 wOBA overall and a .298 wOBA when facing him away from Wrigley Field.

One of the Reds’ best righties in their current lineup is top prospect Sal Stewart, who has made a great first impression with Cincinnati. He had 20 homers, a .309 average, and a .413 wOBA in his 118 minor league games, and he has translated that success to the majors by hitting .267 with four homers in his first 14 contests with the Reds.

The 21-year-old went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in the series opener on Thursday, but he is still 8-for-21 (.381) over his last six games with a double and two home runs, including this one against lefty Matthew Liberatore of the Cardinals:

Stewart’s home run props come at good value this Friday, and facing Imanaga should be a good spot for him to keep stepping up as the Reds try to hang in the playoff race.

Salvador Perez to record 1+ home runs (+385)

The Royals have fallen out of the AL Wild Card chase, slipping seven games out of the third and final Wild Card spot with nine games left. They can get back to .500 with a win on Friday, though, as they host the Blue Jays for the final series in Kauffman Stadium for the year.

The Royals will start the series by giving out a Salvador Perez bobblehead commemorating his 300th home run. He’s been the subject of several bobblehead nights throughout his career, including one as Superman, one as “Sal Solo” on Star Wars night, and a bubble-blowing bobblehead. The team hasn’t unveiled what this one will look like, but hopefully Perez can make the celebration special by another smash like this one:

This season, Perez has 29 homers and has a .313 wOBA despite a very slow start to the year. Sixteen of those 29 homers have come since the All-Star break, including four in his last five games.

Perez has hit 27 of those 29 homers against righties, so he’ll actually be on the strong side of his splits when he faces Max Scherzer and the Blue Jays on Friday. Salvy is 12-for-34 (.353) in his career against Scherzer with three home runs in their past matchups as well.

Whether you’re into the narrative of his bobblehead night or not, the fact that he’ll be playing at home with such a good matchup makes his home run props a strong option to consider this Friday.

Taylor Ward to record 1+ home runs (+309)

The highest run total on the board is from Coors Field tonight, as usual. The altitude always improves home run chances, and the Rockies’ pitching staff has been so bad that they would be a great matchup regardless of where the games were played.

On Friday, they’ll give the ball to Bradley Blalock, who is 1-5 in 12 games this season with a 9.00 ERA and 7.23 FIP. He has allowed 14 homers in his 12 games and has the highest HR/9 of all probable pitchers on the board this Friday night. At Coors Field, Blaylock has served up seven homers in just 24 1/3 innings while giving up 34 runs on 42 hits. Opponents have a .461 wOBA against him at Coors Field.

While lefties have had just a little more success against him than righties, I’m going with righty Taylor Ward in this matchup since his home run props come at a good number, and righties have a .365 wOBA against Blalock at home, which is still very solid.

While three of his teammates have shorter home run odds than him, Ward has the second-most homers on the team this season. He has 33 homers on the season, including three in his last five games.

Ward tends to bunch his home runs together, and he’s looking to finish the season with a power surge. He is already up to a new career high with 33 homers and 100 RBI and will be arbitration eligible for one more season before becoming a free agent after 2026, unless an extension is reached.

On Friday, Ward brings his power to Denver, and I like his home run props at this number in what should be a very favorable matchup.