Everybody loves a long ball — but we love them even more when there's a chance to make some sweet, sweet cash off them, which is exactly what we're looking to do with FanDuel Sportsbook's Dinger Tuesday promotion!
How it works is that every Tuesday, you place one $25 bet on a player to hit a home run... and get $5 in bonus bets for every total home run hit in that game — regardless of who hits 'em.
To help you maximize your earnings, I've sifted through the MLB odds and found three of the best matchups on the MLB schedule to target, along with some good MLB player prop and the best value for the game based on FanDuel's MLB home run odds against other major operators.
So let's go deep with the best FanDuel Dinger Tuesday plays for April 18, 2023.
FanDuel Dinger Tuesday best values
Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds
- 6:40 p.m. ET
- Great American Ball Park
- Taj Bradley vs. Nick Lodolo
Ballpark Pal's daily Park Factors has GABP upgraded by about 9% for home runs today, with winds blowing out to left field and temperatures at a reasonable 60 degrees around opening pitch.
Cincinnati Reds lefty Nick Lodolo has been nasty to start the season, but he is facing a Tampa Bay Rays lineup that is first in the majors with 37 home runs (and tied for first with 11 vs. LHP), so Randy Arozarena (+450), Harold Ramirez (+750), and Wander Franco (+630) are definitely in play.
However, what really makes this an interesting play is the Reds getting to go against Rays rookie Taj Bradley, who did not give up a dinger in his MLB debut six days ago — but he had a 54.5% hard-hit rate (with an average exit velocity of 94 mph) and 45.5% of balls in play were pulled.
Add in that he did give up 10 HR in 59 innings in Triple-A last year, and pull-heavy righties like Jonathan India (+560) and Wil Myers (+600) — plus Spencer Steer (+500) with his 40.5% fly-ball rate — are intriguing options.
Best betting value: Wil Myers (+600)
Toronto Blue Jays at Houston Astros
- 8:10 p.m. ET
- Minute Maid Park
- Chris Bassitt vs. Jose Urquidy
Park Factors only has home runs upgraded by 4% tonight at Minute Maid Park, but we've got two pitchers we can target — and two lineups with plenty of big bats.
Toronto Blue Jays righty Chris Bassitt has already given up five home runs this year — all on the road — and allowed 61 home runs in 96 appearances over the last four years, while pitching mostly in the A's and Mets' spacious stadiums.
His hard-hit rate this season is almost 41% (his highest since 2016) and his career HR/AB is much higher against lefties, so the obvious options for the Houston Astros are Yordan Alvarez (+330) and Kyle Tucker (+360), but righty Alex Bregman (+450) has a 51.4% fly-ball rate and Mauricio Dubon (+630) is crushing fastballs and sliders... and righties can always pop one in the Crawford boxes.
Let's not count out the Jays' big bats, however, especially against Jose Urquidy, who gave up the sixth-most dingers last year (29 in 29 appearances), and allowed two long balls in his sole home start this season.
Righties have actually been hitting him harder this season with a 42% fly-ball rate, so you can try to take advantage of the short left field well and target Matt Chapman (+320), who pulls the ball 40.7% of the time, and Santiago Espinal (currently OTB), who is pulling 63.6% of balls against righties.
You can also go with George Springer (+300) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (+290), who hit about 75% of their balls to left or center field, or Bo Bichette (+520)... who goes opposite field a lot but leads the team with a .400 average and three home runs against RHP. There is by no means a shortage of options in this matchup.
Best betting value: Bo Bichette (+520)
Pittsburgh Pirates at Colorado Rockies
- 8:40 p.m. ET
- Coors Field
- Vince Velasquez vs. Jose Urena
Hooray for Coors Field, the highest-upgraded stadium today for Park Factors, upgraded by 10% for HR and 18% for runs.
The Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates combined for 17 runs, 26 hits, and three home runs last night... and we arguably have even worse pitchers on the mound today in Vince Velasquez and Jose Urena.
The visiting Velasquez gave up 11 home runs in 75 1/3 innings last year, gave up two dingers at homer-friendly Great American Ball Park earlier this year, and he is near the bottom of the league in barrel percentage — with a 52.4% fly-ball rate against lefty hitters, a .320 batting average and 3.0 HR/9.
The wind could get up to 21 mph straight to right field — so switch hitter Jurickson Profar (+460), lefties Ryan McMahon (+350) and Charlie Blackmon (+460), are the names to target, plus team leader (and righty) C.J. Cron (+280).
On the Pirates side, Bryan Reynolds (+340) is the obvious play, with his .725 slugging percentage and five HR vs. RHP, but you could also look at veteran SH Carlos Santana (+450), who is hitting just .156 this year against righties but has two home runs this year and always had more power from the left side, and lefty Jack Suwinski (+390), who pulls the ball 52.6% of the time — considering Urena has allowed five HR in 10 IP so far this season, with a 47.5% hard-hit rate.
Best betting value: Jurickson Profar (+460)
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