The Cleveland Guardians avoided being swept in a five-game series for the first time since the 2018 American League Division Series (ALDS), and ended the Chicago White Sox’ four-game playoff winning streak in the process. With them being the only team among the four series to stave off elimination, my MLB home run props are focused solely on the Guardians-White Sox game.
Read on for my top MLB home run props for Thursday, October 8th.
See Today’s Full Best Home Run Bets Board >>
Thursday’s Best MLB Home Run Props
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Boost your MLB betting strategy with our MLB Prop Bet Analyzer and get the top-rated and trending MLB player props today.
Munetaka Murakami (+394)
Guardians southpaw Parker Messick entered Game 1 with a 3-1 record and 2.56 ERA over 31.2 innings pitched in five career starts against the White Sox. But largely because of one mistake to Munetaka Murakami, he was the losing pitcher in a game Cleveland lost 3-0.
The mammoth 440-foot blast was the first of Murakami’s playoff career, and he became the fourth rookie in franchise history to hit a home run in the playoffs. The blast was also the hardest-hit ball of the entire postseason, leaving the stadium at 112.2 miles per hour (MPH).
Murakami is 3-for-6 with two home runs off Messick, making him the only White Sox slugger with multiple homers off the southpaw. He hit 20 of his 35 home runs at home this season, and the 35 home runs were tied for the fifth-most by a Japanese-born MLB player in a single season (tied with Shohei Ohtani in 2022).
Through his first four playoff games, he slugged .500 with a .813 OPS, making this a great bet for Murakami to go deep again.
37.2% of Munetaka Murakami's hits there year were home runs 😳
For comparison, Kyle Schwarber in 2025 (best all-around season) 38.6% of his hits were home runs
Murakami is only 26 years old, with a very entertaining power profile ?'? https://t.co/wRL4QHB7qO
- Baseball Unstitched (@BaseUnstitched) October 7, 2026
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.