Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Rays vs. Yankees 7/31/25
Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees
July 31, 2025 1:05 pm EDT
Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with an American League matchup featuring the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees 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 Rays vs. Yankees matchup.
Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks
Captain-Ryan Pepiot, Starting Pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays $11,600
On Thursday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the final game of a three-game American League series featuring the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees.
How are these two teams playing entering tomorrow’s MLB game? The Tampa Bay Rays arrive at the third game of this three-game series with the New York Yankees playing below average baseball. The Rays have lost six of the team’s last seven games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds last week.
In direct contrast to the Tampa Bay Rays, the New York Yankees are playing good baseball entering tomorrow’s contest. More specifically, the Yankees have won three of the team’s last four games played this season, including a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies three days ago.
Now that we have determined how both of these teams are currently playing let’s turn our attention to tomorrow afternoon’s game. Starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot has been a key contributor for the Tampa Bay Rays starting pitching rotation this season. Having stated that, how has the veteran hurler performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Pepiot’s relevant game data from the 2025 MLB regular season to answer that question.
In 22 starts made this season, Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot has compiled a 6-8 (won-loss record), a 3.42 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 1.15 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched). Additionally, Pepiot has amassed 124 strikeouts (25th in MLB) while allowing 42 walks in 126.1 innings pitched this season.
Earlier this season, in the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot pitched six quality innings while scattering three hits and two walks. It should also be noted that in the Rays win over the Rangers, Pepiot accumulated 22.5 Draftkings points.
In my opinion, Ryan Pepiot is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this MLB game. With that said, I am backing Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot 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): Marcus Stroman, Starting Pitcher (New York Yankees) $10,400: Giancarlo Stanton, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $8,000.
