Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Pirates vs. Yankees 9/28/24

Major League Baseball presents a matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Yankees game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings 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 afternoon’s Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Yankees matchup.

Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks

Captain-Paul Skenes, Starting Pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates $11,800

On Saturday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the second game of a three game interleague series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees.

How are these two teams playing entering tonight’s MLB game? The New York Yankees arrive at the second game of this three game interleague series with the Pittsburgh Pirates playing below average baseball. The Yankees have lost three of the team’s last four games played in the 2024 MLB regular season, including a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles four days ago.

Similar to the New York Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates have not been playing good baseball recently. More specifically, the Pirates have lost four of the team’s last seven games played this season, including a 7-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the week.

It should be noted that the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 in last night’s second game of this three game interleague series.

Now that we have determined how both teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to this afternoon’s contest. Pittsburgh starting pitcher Paul Skenes has certainly illustrated that he is a key member of this Pittsburgh Pirates pitching rotation this season. Having stated that, how has Skenes been playing from a statistical standpoint? Let’s review Paul Skene’s recent game data to answer that question.

In the 22 games that Paul Skenes has pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2024 MLB regular season, Paul Skenes has posted a robust 1.99 ERA (Earned Run Average), a 0.96 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched), 167 strikeouts while allowing 32 walks.

More recently, in the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 shutout victory over the Cincinnati Reds six days ago, Paul Skenes pitched exceptionally well. Skenes pitched five quality innings striking out nine Cincinnati batters while allowing only two hits in the Pirates win over the Reds. I think it’s fair to say that Skenes is getting it done on the mound in 2024.

What did we learn from the data just presented? Clearly, Paul Skenes is pitching at a high level entering tonight’s interleague clash with the New York Yankees. For that specific reason, I am backing Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes at the captain position for this one game MLB Draftkings Showdown contest.

Flex plays I like (Draftkings price noted): Luis Gil, Starting Pitcher, (New York Yankees) $11,000: Nick Gonzales, Second Baseman (Pittsburgh Pirates) $6,000: Aaron Judge, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $9,800: Juan Soto, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $9,400.