Buxton, Rice favored as bettors target home runs

MLB’s top home run hitters Byron Buxton and Ben Rice are the smartest bets for Wednesday, June 3, 2026, according to sportsbook data. Both sluggers currently carry +350-plus odds to clear the 0.5 home-run line at DraftKings, giving bettors a rare shot at value in a notoriously tough prop market. The season’s best-ball tracker already shows a tidy $553 profit for anyone who risked $100 on each of the season’s recommended homer props, proving that a handful of winners can offset a long losing streak.

Buxton is the sharper play. The Minnesota outfielder has slugged 17 homers—tied for fourth in MLB—and his batted-ball metrics scream repeat success. Among 261 qualified batters in 2026, he ranks in the top ten for barrel rate, hard-hit rate and exit velocity, meaning every swing carries explosive potential. His matchup is perfect: Erick Fedde, the White Sox starter, has allowed the most home runs per nine innings of any probable starter today. Fedde has surrendered at least one homer in nine of his last ten appearances and has coughed up multiple bombs three times. Add in the White Sox bullpen, which has given up the 10th-most homers among relief corps, and Buxton looks like the safest swing at +378 odds.

Ben Rice is the co-favorite for a reason. The Yankees first baseman has also clubbed 17 homers, with a similar split against right-handed pitching. His plate discipline and exit velocities are elite—he’s inside the top 20 for barrel rate, hard-hit rate and sweet-spot rate—so the power is real. Rice’s +414 price is longer than Buxton’s but still juicy, especially if the starter he faces is not named Fedde. Either way, one swing from either slugger could extend the season’s profitable run and buy a little more room for error before the inevitable cold stretch arrives.