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Daily Dinger: Best MLB Home Run Picks Today (Royce Lewis’ Stellar Return Continues)

There are 15 Major League Baseball games on Saturday, plenty of action for us to comb through and cash in.

In the home run market, I've targeted three sluggers that are in strong position to go yard and cash in at long odds, including Royce Lewis, who has returned from an early season injury to hit two home runs in his first three games back.

Lewis, along with J.D. Martinez and Jeremy Pena headlines Saturday's Daily Dinger card.

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

J.D. Martinez

Major League Baseball heads to London, where hitters should feast with the wind blowing out at about 10 miles per hour. This sets up favorably for Martinez, who has elite metrics against left pitching, posting .342/.419/.553 splits this season.

The Mets will face Ranger Suarez on Saturday, the lefty pitcher who has been posting Cy Young like metrics this season for Philadelphia, driving up the typical price Martinez would have against lefties.

Given the hitting conditions at London Stadium, I'll bite despite Suarez having a strong year.

Royce Lewis

Lewis has three home runs in 11 at bats this season despite missing a chunk of the year. The former top prospect has proven amidst the injury bug that he can hit at a high level, and I'll go back to the well against a below average Pirates bullpen.

This will be an opener game of sorts for the Pirates, who will turn Carmen Mlodzinski first and there should be plenty of different arms facing Lewis. It also helps that the wind is blowing out at PNC Park at over 10 miles per hour to left field, all the direction that he has hit homers this year.

Jeremy Pena

Pena tears up lefty pitching, hitting .333 on the year with a .545 slugging percentage. Despite limited at bats against lefties, Pena has hit two of his five homers against southpaws and draws a regression bound Tyler Anderson on Saturday.

Anderson doesn't strike many batters out, sitting at 16% and he allows fly ball contact at nearly 63%. Without a ton of fastball velocity, Pena should have little issue getting a barrel on the ball, Anderson is in the 21st percentile in that metric, per MLBStatcast.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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6 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Twins’ Royce Lewis Offers Cool Tribute to Derek Jeter in First Yankee Stadium At-Bat

The Minnesota Twins paid a visit to the Bronx for a series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium which got underway on Tuesday.

It marked the first time Twins shortstop Royce Lewis played at the renowned ballpark, and he opted to pay tribute to his all-time favorite player during his first at-bat of the game, legendary Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

After stepping into the batter's box, Lewis replicated Jeter's routine, tapping the tip of his bat into the dirt while lifting his right arm up as he set his feet.

Lewis broke down the significance of Jeter to him ahead of Wednesday's tilt.

"It was just a personal thing I wanted to do. Pay a ode to such a mentor and a great player, and a well respected player around the league. And for me, my favorite player, and I was lucky enough to be able to do that in my first game in Yankee Stadium," Lewis said.

Royce Lewis paid tribute to Derek Jeter in his first at bat last night.
Lewis spoke on what Jeter meant to him growing up before tonight’s game pic.twitter.com/vaUFINZwdG
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 5, 2024

"Thank you for everything you did for the game of baseball. Thank you for being such a great player on and off the field. Really well respected, and it meant a lot to me and it formed me to be the man I am today," said Lewis when asked if he'd have a message for Jeter if he were standing in front of him.

Despite a Minnesota loss, Lewis managed to make a memory in his first trip to the iconic stadium, launching a solo home run during the seventh inning, his second homer of the year.