Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Padres vs. Cubs 10/1/25
San Diego Padres vs. Chicago Cubs
October 1, 2025 3:08 pm EDT
Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with a National League playoff matchup featuring the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the San Diego Padres vs. Chicago Cubs game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings MLB single game showdown contest.
Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules
You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.
*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.
Here are my Draftkings picks for tomorrow afternoon’s Padres vs. Cubs matchup.
Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks
Captain-Dylan Cease, Starting Pitcher, San Diego Padres $11,400
On Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the second game of a three-game National League series featuring the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs.
How are these two teams playing entering tomorrow’s MLB playoff game? The San Diego Padres arrive at the second game of this three-game series with the Chicago Cubs playing good baseball. More specifically, the Padres have won seven of the team’s last nine games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 7-0 shutout win over the Milwaukee Brewers last week.
Similar to the San Diego Padres, the Chicago Cubs are playing quality baseball entering the second game of this National League playoff series. The Cubs have won five of the team’s last six games played this season, including a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals five days ago.
Now that we have identified how both of these teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to tomorrow afternoon’s MLB playoff game. Starting pitcher Dylan Cease has certainly been a solid performer for the San Diego Padres starting pitching rotation this season. Having stated that, how has Cease pitcher performed from a statistical standpoint? Let’s review Cease’s relevant game data from the 2025 MLB regular season to answer that question.
In 32 starts made this season, San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease has compiled an 8-12 (win-loss record), a 4.55 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 1.33 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) in 2025. It should also be mentioned that Cease has amassed a whopping 215 strikeouts (sixth in MLB) while allowing 71 walks in 168 innings pitched this season.
More recently, in the San Diego Padres 11-3 win over the Colorado Rockies earlier this month, Dylan Cease pitched six quality innings while scattering five hits and one walk.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings MLB showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups.
In my opinion, Dylan Cease is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this MLB playoff game. For that specific reason, I am backing San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease at the captain position for this one game MLB DFS slate.
Flex plays I like to play well in this MLB playoff game (Draftkings price noted): Shota Imanaga, Starting Pitcher (Chicago Cubs) $10,600: Nico Hoerner, Second Baseman (Chicago Cubs) $7,800.
