MLB Home Run Derby Odds and Best Bet: The +500 Underdog You Need to Bet to Dethrone Pete Alonso
It’s a bit of a dead zone in the sports world right now, but eight of baseball’s best bombers are here to make it up to us fans by mashing dingers for our amusement in the 2022 MLB Home Run Derby Monday night. New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso headlines the field once again as he guns for his third straight victory in the event.
Alonso is understandably the betting favorite to pull off the three-peat, but that’s not where I’m going with my best bet of the night. So, let’s check out the Home Run Derby betting odds and try to find a juicy winner in the bunch.
Home Run Derby betting odds: Pete Alonso a +290 favorite to three-peat
This seems pretty obvious, right?
Coming off two straight wins in the Home Run Derby, Alonso has been pegged as the betting favorite to three-peat at +290 odds. With a win Monday night, the Mets first baseman would become the first player ever to win three straight King of Swing belts. Ken Griffey Jr. is the only other player with three total Home Run Derby victories to his name.
But it won’t be an easy task for Alonso this time around. The 2022 Home Run Derby field is littered with bombers, and he drew maybe the most dangerous of them all in Ronald Acuna Jr. for his first-round matchup.
Here are all four of the first-round matchups and each player’s odds to advance:
1 Kyle Schwarber (-390) vs. 8 Albert Pujols (+320)
2 Pete Alonso (-230) vs. 7 Ronald Acuna Jr. (+180)
3 Corey Seager (+140) vs. 6 Julio Rodriguez (-170)
4 Juan Soto (-190) vs. Jose Ramirez (+160)
Check out the betting odds to win the Home Run Derby for every player in the field:
| Player | Betting Odds |
|---|---|
| Pete Alonso | +195 |
| Kyle Schwarber | +350 |
| Juan Soto | +500 |
| Julio Rodriguez | +700 |
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | +800 |
| Corey Seager | +1000 |
| Jose Ramirez | +1600 |
| Albert Pujols | +2400 |
Home Run Derby best bet: Juan Soto +500
Alonso may have won the 2021 Home Run Derby, but the highlight of the night was Soto’s back-and-forth battle against Shohei Ohtani in the first round. The two sluggers went to a swing-off and needed two overtimes to decide the winner, and Soto eventually triumphed with 31 total homers.
The Washington Nationals superstar ran out of gas in the next round and lost to Alonso, 16-15. This year, he’s back for revenge.
Soto avoided Alonso’s side of the bracket, so he’ll just need to beat Ramirez and either Schwarber or Pujols to reach the finals. There, he’ll possibly have a chance to exact revenge on Alonso and steal the King of Swing belt from his Polar Bear-sized hands.
We saw what Soto can do in last year’s Derby, and as long as he doesn’t run into another double-overtime battle, I love his chances of reaching the finals and winning it all this time around.
At +500, he’s my best bet for the 2022 Home Run Derby.
All betting odds courtesy of FanDuel as of 7/17.
Like Sportscasting on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @sportscasting19.
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the National Council on Problem Gambling helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
