You have to check out Fanatics Sportsbook's newest big-money contest, the MLB Long Ball Jackpot.
It’s already paid out some big winners… Maybe you’ll be next?!?!
Fanatics Long Ball Jackpot: An Introduction
Here's how it works:
- Opt in and bet a minimum of $5 on a player to hit a home run. You can only select one player.
- If your player hits the longest home run on the MLB slate, you split $50,000 in FanCash with everyone else who bet that player.
- But because the longest home run on a given day is pretty random and about 270 players are eligible on a 15-game slate, there have been some huge winners already.
- Home run distance is measured via MLB's StatCast, which captures "the flight of the path based on radar as far as the radar will allow us to track it" and "if the radar loses it, we project beyond it based on the physics." So, it's not a perfect measurement.
While Fanatics is the first sportsbook to run a competition based on the length of home runs in baseball, several other sportsbooks offer similar contests.
For example, DraftKings runs the NBA King of the Court contest, in which the player who bets the highest PRA total on the slate wins. Of course, this more often than not results in minuscule payouts, given how top-heavy the league is.
On the contrary, the Long Ball Jackpot offers much greater randomness, resulting in much higher payouts.
As such, the contest is far more strategic.
Long Ball Game Theory
On the surface, you’d think you want to target players who hit a ton of homers.
But the game theory in this contest runs deeper, with more statistical variables to consider.
For starters, average home run distance and launch angle are of vital importance for picking Long Ball Jackpot winners. Any search for this contest should start by identifying a group of players who thrive in these categories.
Additionally, you have to take the weather, specifically wind speed, into account. Heavy winds can drastically impact the distance of any home run. At the same time, take into account the ballpark, as some are far easier than others to hit longer homers.
Finally, taking a contrarian stance in this contest is the best route. There’s little correlation between how elite a hitter is and how long he can crush a home run on any given day.
To maximize potential profit, you must get creative with your selections so your winnings are not split among a large group.
Expert Home Run Picks for Tuesday, April 14
Oneil Cruz
vs. Nationals, 6:40 PM ET
When it comes to smashing long homers, Pirates' outfielder Oneil Cruz is one of the best.
Pittsburgh’s young superstar is one of the most unique players in MLB history, standing at 6-foot-7 with insane bat-speed and exit-velocity metrics.
In addition to hitting over 20 homers in each of the past two seasons, Cruz smashed a 513-foot moonshot in the 2025 Home Run Derby with an insane exit velocity of 122mph — amongst the hardest hit balls in the Statcast era.
Despite striking out a ton, Cruz hits for extreme raw power, blasting several homers upwards of 450 feet over the course of his young career.
The Pirates are set to host the Cardinals on Tuesday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh in the second of a three-game homestand.
There is no doubt that Oneil will have a prime matchup against St. Louis righty Miles Mikolas, who has got off to a dreadful start to his 2026 campaign, posting a 12.40 ERA over his first two starts.
On the contrary, the Pirates’ superstar is scorching to start his third season in the Big Leagues, ranking among the top-10 MLB hitters with a .345 average. Cruz also ranks in the top-10 in homers, having already mashed five.
While the current form of this matchup is surely significant, Oneil also has a solid history against the 37-year-old veteran, having blasted a double and a triple.
The Cardinals’ right-hander has been very susceptible to allowing homers in recent years — even tying an MLB record after allowing six in a single game — and has already allowed four this season in just over 12 innings of work.
Mikolas had a rather impressive arsenal earlier in his career, but has had terrible command issues over the past two seasons, losing control of his off-speed pitches and having to rely more on his four-seam fastball.
The longtime veteran has also had far more struggles pitching on the road, which is certainly significant in this case.
Cruz has punished fastballs in the upper zone and has shown far more patience in the box than in 2025, demonstrating impressive discipline to get ahead in the count. The Pirates’ young star also thrives on off-speed pitches that get left in the zone.
Given the lackluster form of Mikolas and Cruz’s ability to launch homers, I think the Pirates outfielder is a great pick to potentially hit the longest homer on Tuesday’s slate of games.
Cruz is off to a phenomenal start in 2026, and I expect that to continue on Tuesday.
Pick: Oneil Cruz Home Run (+320, Fanatics)
Rafael Devers
vs. Reds, 6:40 PM ET
For my second pick in Fanatics’ Longball Jackpot on Tuesday night, I will be targeting Giants’ infielder Rafael Devers to blast one over Reds’ righty Brady Singer.
While the former-Royals righty has actually been reliable over the past few years, he is off to a miserable start in 2026, posting a 7.71 ERA over his first two outings.
I am very concerned about Singer's lackluster start to the season as he has struggled mightily with both velocity and command.
Given that both players used to play in the American League, Devers and Singer have squared off 11 times, with the Giants’ superstar getting the upper hand with four hits and a homer.
The Reds’ right-hander has shown great vulnerability to allowing homers with his sinker when he loses command and velocity, both of which have been problematic for Singer thus far.
While his sinker used to be very effective, mostly allowing contact via ground balls, his drastic drop in velocity in 2026 has made his favorite pitch very flat, making it more prone to hard contact.
There is no doubt that Devers has had consistency issues behind the plate after getting moved from the Red Sox at the 2025 trade deadline, which has continued into this season as the Giants’ star has only just hit his second homer of the season.
That said, I think this is a prime spot for Devers on Tuesday.
In addition to the Reds’ Great American Ballpark being the second most common park in the MLB when it comes to allowing long homers (behind just Coors Field), Singer has struggled mightily AGAINST left-handed power hitters like Devers.
Devers is also an elite "bad-ball hitter," frequently smashing moonshots against breaking and off-speed stuff down in the zone, which is where Singer likes to throw his sinker.
Given Singer’s command issues, I think it is very possible he leaves an off-speed pitch low in the zone where Raffy has thrived on launching homers for the entirety of his career.
Dever’s exceptional ability to cover the entire plate and launch lower-zone off-speed pitches could be very problematic for the Cincinnati righty.
Despite a rather slow start to the season, the Giants’ lefty has a prime matchup on Tuesday.
Pick: Rafael Devers Home Run (+320, Fanatics)
