Friday Night at Dodger Stadium — Expert Picks in the MLB Today
Written by: Varun Sharma
Published: Fri Sep 18, 2026, 1:40 pm ET
Read Time: 4 minutes
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Happy Friday. It's been a few days since we bet some dingers, but today's MLB slate is extensive and weather around the league looks great.
We've got about 9 games left in the regular season, let's take advantage and jump right into tonight's slate.
The cheat sheet makes it a lot easier when I run through the stats I'm looking at and as always, hit me up on X if you've got more questions.
Dinger Cheat Sheet
- BA — Batting Average
- oBA — Opponent Batting Average
- xBA — Expected BA
- SLG — Slugging Percentage
- ISO — Isolated Power
- wOBA — Weighted On-Base Average
- HH% — Hard Hit Rate
- BRL% — Barrel Rate
- HR/9 — Home Runs per 9 innings
- XBH — Extra Base Hit
- RBI — Runs Batted In
Dinger Counter: 21-40; +29.2 units
Today's Dingers
Kevin McGonigle Home Run (+490) | Lucky Rebel
This one might seem a little out of left field, but Kevin McGonigle has been great for the Detroit Tigers this year. McGonigle is hitting .276 on the year, he's hit 17 home runs and he's got a .422 SLG. He's been one of Detroit's most consistent hitters this year and his recent form suggests he's about to hit one deep.
McGonigle is hitting .389 in his last 5 games, he's got a .500 SLG, a .621 xSLG, 50% HH and no home runs. The guy has been absolutely crushing the baseball, it just hasn't been leaving the ballpark.
Tonight the Tigers head to the Southside of Chicago to take on the White Sox and this short outfield feels like the perfect spot for McGonigle to get over the hump. On the mound for the White Sox will be David Sandlin, making just his fifth career MLB start.
Sandlin's got a 5.64 ERA and he's allowing lefties to hit .275 with a .536 SLG and 5 home runs. He's utilizing his 4-seam fastball and curveball at a near 60% rate this year and both are pitches we've seen McGonigle crush this year.
McGonigle's got 9 home runs against these two pitches, batting .318 with a .385 xwOBA and .544 SLG. Tonight's the perfect night for McGonigle to go ya-ya.
Bryce Eldridge Home Run (+440) | Lucky Rebel
This one feels tough, but hear me out. Bryce Eldridge popped onto the scene this year, he's played 107 games, he's hit 17 home runs and he's become one of the San Francisco Giant's best hitters this year.
Eldridge is batting .269 on the year, he's got a .461 SLG, 16% BRL and 52% HH. Against righties, he's been just as good; batting .260 with 11 home runs, 16% BRL and 50% HH.
On the bump for the Los Angeles Dodgers is Tyler Glasnow. He's got a 3.50 ERA this year, he's giving up less than 1 HR/9 and despite not playing a ton of games, he's been locked in.
So why are we targeting Glasnow? Well the Dodgers locked up the division last night and when that happens we know what goes on in the locker room. The lads were celebrating, champagne/beer was being sprayed everywhere and I'm expecting that to slow down this Dodgers squad tonight.
The team's coming home after a 7-game road trip, after a champagne celebration and I'm sure the Giants would love to sour those celebrations tonight.
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