Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Pirates vs. Reds 4/12/25
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds
April 12, 2025 6:40 pm EDT
Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with a National League matchup featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds 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 this evening’s Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds matchup.
Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks
Captain-Andrew Heaney, Starting Pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates $10,600
On Saturday night, Major League Baseball presents the second game of a three-game National League series featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds.
How are these two teams playing entering tonight’s MLB game? The Pittsburgh Pirates arrive at the second game of this three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds playing below average baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates have lost six of the team’s last ten games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals four days ago.
Conversely, the Cincinnati Reds are playing rather good baseball entering this evening’s game. More specifically, the Reds have won four of the team’s last six games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 2-0 shutout win over the San Francisco Giants earlier this week.
Now that we have determined how both of these teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to tonight’s contest. Andrew Heaney had a solid 2024 season with the Texas Rangers. Having stated that, how did the talented hurler perform from a statistical perspective last season? Let’s review Heaney’s relevant game data from the 2024 MLB regular season to answer that question.
Last season, Andrew Heaney made 31 starts, finishing with a 12-10 win-loss record, a 4.04 ERA (Earned Run Average), and a 1.29 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched). Additionally, Heaney tallied 174 strikeouts over 162.1 innings pitched.
How has Andrew Heaney pitched recently? In the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 win over the New York Yankees six days ago, Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Andrew Heaney certainly pitched exceptionally well. Heaney pitched seven quality innings, striking out ten Yankees batters while scattering five hits and one walk in the Pittsburgh Pirates victory over the New York Yankees.
In my view, Andrew Heaney is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in tonight’s MLB game. With that said, I am backing Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Andrew Heaney at the captain position for this one game MLB DFS slate.
Flex plays I like to play well in this MLB regular season contest (Draftkings price noted): Andrew Abott, Starting Pitcher (Cincinnati Reds) $11,000: TJ Friedl, Outfielder (Cincinnati Reds) $8,400: Endy Rodriguez, First Baseman (Pittsburgh Pirates) $4,400.
