Dinger Tuesday: Where there's a Will, there's a way

Well, Matt Olson got us a hit while Royce Lewis surprisingly got the night off. That was a bit frustrating. Spencer Steer hit a homer, while Anthony Santander logged two singles. We certainly were on the right path but didn't quite play it the right way. Today we turn back to straights because it's Dinger Tuesday.*

*make sure to opt into FanDuel's Dinger Tuesday promotion before placing any HR wagers

Two spots to target for homers tonight

As you might have guessed, our first stop is a look at the weather, and we have a pair of juicy-looking games to target for home run props. The forecast out in Colorado is looking superb, offering up a 29% boost to HRs, and the Baltimore weather once again looks conducive for homers, should the game not be rained out. The forecast there has home runs expecting a 32% increase throughout.

We've got our games, now let's find our players. For today's exercise, we're going to focus on the two visiting clubs: the Dodgers and the Reds. We'll get to some of the secondary reasons why, but at surface level, we can guarantee nine innings for these two clubs, and that extra at-bat could be all the difference for our selections this evening.

Dodgers @ Rockies

Los Angeles averages the second-most home runs per game this season, and the Dodgers should be able to jump on Colorado starter Connor Seabold who is fresh off a nine-run, nine-hit start. The Dodgers are also one of the best hitting teams against RHP, so we expect plenty of big games from the bats here.

So, who to choose? There were quite a few names that look intriguing. J.D. Martinez feels incredibly due and hits RHP much better. Freddie Freeman is 2-2 against Seabold and has three HRs in his last five road games. Even David Peralta caught our eye seeing as he's hit two home runs in his last three trips to Coors Field. Ultimately, we did find our favorite.

Will Smith (+280 FD)

Will Smith has knocked a homer in two straight games, and we tend to like backing that momentum, as we've seen players sustain it for quite a stretch of games. 

Smith has seen Seabold twice, blasting a homer in one of those at-bats, so that's certainly nice history to see. He also has a home run twice in his past five games in Colorado.

Reds @ Orioles

The Cincinnati side seems to be more likely to bring the homers tonight, especially when you see that Baltimore starter Tyler Wells has allowed 18 HRs this season, tied for fifth-most in the league.

We had a much easier time identifying a HR pick on this side, though we will give an honorable mention to rookie Elly De La Cruz, who hits righties far better, especially for power.

Jake Fraley (+560 FD)

We will note that Fraley's odds are better on both DK (+650) and MGM (+675), but the promotion that awards back $5 for every homer hit in the game is only available on FanDuel. We'll let you make the decision on what you value more.

Fraley stood out after a quick poke through. He's knocked a dinger in three out of his last four games and hits RHP extremely well. Fraley has a .284 average and .224 ISO vs. righties compared to a .036 average and .035 ISO against LHP.

All 11 of Fraley's homers have come against righties, which has us liking this matchup against Wells to begin the night. Fraley also knocked a HR in his last road game for good measure.

In the news ...

LSU wins Men's College Baseball World Series — The LSU Tigers got the bats going early and sustained them throughout en route to an 18-4 blowout win over Florida. The win clinched LSU its seventh MCWS championship and its first since 2009. Monday's result was the biggest run deficit in MCWS title game history.

Hawks trade John Collins to Utah — Forward John Collins has been involved in trade rumors for a few seasons now, and the shoe has finally dropped, with Atlanta sending him off to Utah in exchange for Rudy Gay and a second-round pick. It isn't much of a haul for the Hawks, as the move essentially becomes a salary dump that also creates a $25M trade exception for the team. Collins is only 25 and has averaged 15.8 PPG and 8.0 RPG for his career. Atlanta is +2000 to win the East, and Utah is +13000 to win the West.

New York Jets expected to be chosen for this summer's Hard Knocks — There aren't many NFL teams that call up HBO volunteering to be the featured product on Hard Knocks, and so the league has required a formula that can force a team to be picked. A team can be forced to participate if they do not have a new head coach, have not been to the playoffs in either of the last two years and have not been the subject of the show for the last 10 years. The four teams that the criteria describes are the Bears, Commanders, Saints and Jets, and it appears New York will be picked. That comes as little surprise. The team traded for Aaron Rodgers and has high expectations heading into 2023 thanks to a promising young nucleus of players on both sides of the ball. The Jets are +1800 to win the Super Bowl.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll