Happy Monday! We’re back with some MLB home run picks for June 8 on Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook. We closed last week in style, cashing three of four home run picks on Friday, so let’s see if we can start the new week on the right foot with a smaller, more selective slate.
The Best MLB Home Run Bets for Monday, June 8
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Yordan Alvarez (Astros at Angels – Angel Stadium – 9:38 p.m. ET)
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Colton Cowser (Mariners at Orioles – Camden Yards – 6:35 p.m. ET)
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Gary Sanchez (Brewers at Athletics – Las Vegas Ballpark – 10:05 p.m. ET)
MLB Home Run Best Bet: Yordan Alvarez
We’ll start in California, where the Angels host the Astros at Angel Stadium with a 9:38 p.m. ET first pitch. Grayson Rodriguez is scheduled to make his fifth start of the 2026 season for Los Angeles, and it’s been a rough go so far for the former blue-chip prospect.
Once one of the most highly touted arms in Baltimore’s system, Rodriguez has stumbled out of the gate with a 9.50 ERA in 14.1 innings. He’s allowed four home runs in four starts, and the underlying metrics suggest it could easily be worse.
He ranks in just the third percentile in hard-hit rate, the 10th percentile in ground-ball rate, and he’s giving up a double-digit barrel rate, according to Baseball Savant. For a former first-rounder and No. 11 overall pick, it’s been an extremely uninspiring start to his Angels’ tenure.
Now he runs into a buzzsaw in the form of the Astros’ lineup, headlined by Yordan Alvarez — arguably the best hitter in baseball right now. Alvarez already has 22 home runs and is slugging .633 against right-handed pitching this season.
His advanced metrics on Baseball Savant basically look fictional; he lives in the 90th–100th percentiles in just about every category that matters for power. Regardless of where the odds land, this is the kind of matchup I’m willing to attack blindly at this point. The Angels’ bullpen hasn’t been great either, as they’ve coughed up 34 home runs as of Sunday.
MLB Home Run Pick: Colton Cowser
Next, we’ll head to the early game on the slate, where the Mariners visit the Orioles at Camden Yards for a 6:35 p.m. ET first pitch.
Emerson Hancock has been extremely good on the surface, posting a 2.80 ERA for Seattle, but the advanced metrics are yelling that regression is likely coming.
His expected ERA sits all the way up at 4.17, he’s allowing a double-digit barrel rate, and he ranks in just the 20th percentile in hard-hit rate. Like many Mariners pitchers, Hancock benefits greatly from calling T-Mobile Park home, but this isn’t Seattle — this is Camden Yards in early June, with temperatures likely pushing 80 degrees.
That brings us to Colton Cowser. After an absolutely miserable start to the season, he’s finally woken up. Cowser has hit four home runs over his last 14 games and batted .275 in May, pushing his overall average up to .244. He’s scorching hot at the moment, with a homer in each of his last two games.
Some bettors get skittish about backing a guy who’s already gone deep recently, but this lines up as an interesting positive regression spot for Cowser and a negative one for Hancock. These are pretty generous odds on Hard Rock Bet.
Home Run Long Shot: Gary Sanchez
We’ll close at the Las Vegas Ballpark, where the Athletics host the Brewers at 10:05 p.m. ET. This is one of the more intriguing offensive environments of the day.
Yes, this game is being played in Nevada, which is an interesting wrinkle. There’s an excessive heat warning in the area, as temperatures are projected to be around 97 degrees on Monday.
The Vegas ballpark has longer outfield dimensions than Sutter Health Park, but you can argue that the heat makes this an even crazier hitting environment.
Even though A’s pitcher Jeffrey Springs hasn’t been completely terrible, pitching here will be no easy task. Springs sits in just the 29th percentile in barrel rate and the 17th percentile in ground-ball rate, so hitters are finding loud contact and getting the ball in the air.
This is where I want to take a shot on Gary Sanchez as a classic boom-or-bust power bat. Sanchez has always had strikeout issues, but the flip side is that when he connects, the ball can absolutely fly.
In a small 2026 sample, he’s posted a slugging percentage north of .600 against left-handed pitching, and if you go back to 2024, he hit seven home runs in just 104 at-bats against lefties.
Given the park, the heat, the total, and the matchup, Sanchez is exactly the type of volatility I don’t mind embracing as a long shot on Hard Rock Bet.
Good luck, and let’s crush these home run picks today!
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