There are nine games on the Thursday MLB schedule, including the latest edition of the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry. That should be quite a pitching matchup Thursday, with AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler going for the Yankees and Boston countering with Connelly Early. The Cubs go for a four-game sweep of the Mets, and NL East rivals Philadelphia and Washington also face off in the final game of a four-game set.
Fans who want to bet on MLB have numerous options, and home run prop bets are always an interesting way to wager. After reviewing the MLB odds for Thursday, SportsLine expert Adam Thompson has issued his best bets to hit a home run today.
Thompson was one of the earliest SportsLine experts from 2016-19 and rejoined the company in 2026 following a stint as the primary betting analyst for the Gambling.com Group. An analytics-driven exploiter of matchups, Thompson specializes in the NFL, MLB and the NBA. He also has delivered consistent winners in college basketball, horse racing and golf. Over the past two seasons, he's up over 70 units in MLB and more than 60 units in the NBA at sports betting apps.
Here's who Thompson likes to go yard on Thursday, June 25.
Best home run picks for Thursday, June 25
- Francisco Lindor, Mets (+390, Caesars)
- Francisco Alvarez, Mets (+360, FanDuel)
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (+340, FanDuel)
Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd makes his return from the IL, where he's been for the past six weeks. In the five games he started before that, he allowed only two home runs but posted an ERA of 6.00.
The wind at Citi Field is expected to be blowing right-to-left, favoring right-handed fly ball hitters. Boyd faced the Mets twice last season and gave up a combined two home runs but three more shots off the wall or up against it. All in left field.
The Cubs bullpen ranks 29th in home run rate in June. Only the Athletics -- who played a week at the launching pad in Las Vegas -- has a higher rate. With all that in mind, we're going with two Mets to hit dingers. If one of them does it, we're sitting pretty.
Francisco Lindor, Mets (+390)
Lindor made his return from the IL on Wednesday after two months off the diamond. He went 0-for-5. But Thursday's matchup is a decent spot to make a statement.
The switch hitter is very familiar with Boyd, and very successful. Lindor is a lifetime 13-of-39 (.333) with two home runs and a .945 OPS against Boyd. Lindor has hit 30-plus home runs in three straight seasons. He can pick up the quest for a fourth right here.
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Francisco Alvarez, Mets (+360)
The Mets catcher has only eight home runs on the season. But in the three games vs. the Cubs so far, he's hit a home run in each of them. He's batting .370 in those games.
Alvarez has just two at-bats against Boyd, but one of them was launched out of the park. Nearly all of the catcher's homers this season have been at Citi Field -- all out to right field or center.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (+340)
We won't completely ignore the Cubs' bats either. Mets starter Freddy Peralta has given up eight home runs in his last eight starts. Earlier this year, he faced the Cubs at Wrigley and gave up a pair, to Ian Happ and Carson Kelly.
But we'll go with Crow-Armstrong here. Armstrong has faced Peralta 13 times, registering five hits including a home run. He has an OPS of 1.121 against him. Crow bats left-handed, and the wind is blowing out to left, so it is not the ideal situation. But Crow is hot enough to work through it, drilling six home runs in his last 10 games.
