MLB 2026 Home Run Leader Long Shot Prediction, Odds, Betting: James Wood vs Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, More

The MLB is two weeks into the season and we have a name worth considering to lead the league in homers this season. Most of the money and bets are on the obvious picks, Shohei Ohtani (+175), Aaron Judge (+190), Kyle Schwarber (+250), and Cal Raleigh (+1500), but how many people notice the evolution of James Wood? I don't think enough.

Let's take a dive into the Nationals star hitter and why he's a good bet to lead the MLB at +20000 odds, meaning $10 to win $2,000! MLB Home Run Leader Long Shot: James Wood (+20000) Last season, Cal Raleigh crushed 60 homers to lead the MLB, while three others hit between 53 and 56. In the same year, seven players crushed 40-plus home runs and 33 players hit at least 30 home runs with James Wood being one of them (31).

Wood is tied fourth with a bunch of hitters at five home runs this season, including Oneil Cruz (+3500), Elly De La Cruz (off the board), and Shohei Ohtani (+170). Only Gunnar Henderson (6, +17500), Yordan Alvarez (6, +1600), and Jordan Walker (7, +7000) have more homers than Wood. Despite only a few players have the same amount of homers or more, Wood has the worst odds besides De La Cruz, which I don't think is correct.

Wood cracked 31 homers last year and could certainly surpass 40 or more this year with 50 being in reach. Looking at Wood's baseball savant page , the 6-foot-6 and 234 lbs power hitter has superb slug, barrel, hard hit, and bat speed numbers. Wood's bat speed is higher than Ohtani's and his hard hit percentages are higher than Judge's for example.