Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Tigers vs. Rays 6/21/25
Detroit Tigers vs. Tampa Bay Rays
June 21, 2025 12:10 pm EDT
Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with an American League matchup featuring the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Detroit Tigers 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 Tigers vs. Rays matchup.
Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks
Captain-Ryan Pepiot, Starting Pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays $10,600
On Saturday, Major League Baseball presents the second game of a three-game American League series featuring the Detroit Tigers and the Tampa Bay Rays.
How are these two teams playing entering tomorrow’s MLB game? The Tampa Bay Rays arrive at the second game of this three-game series with the Detroit Tigers playing good baseball. The Rays have won four of the team’s last six games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 12-8 victory over the Baltimore Orioles two days ago.
In direct contrast to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers are playing below average baseball entering tomorrow’s contest. The Tigers have lost four of the team’s last six games played this season, including an embarrassing 10-1 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds last week.
Now that we have determined how both of these teams are currently playing let’s turn our attention to this tomorrow afternoon’s game. Starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot has been a solid performer 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 15 starts made this season, Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot has compiled a 4-6 (won-loss record), a 3.11 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 1.10 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) which ranks 11th in MLB. Additionally, Pepiot has amassed 84 strikeouts while allowing 26 walks in 89.2 innings pitched this season.
More recently, in the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers earlier this month, Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot pitched exceptionally well. More specifically, Pepiot pitched six quality innings while scattering three hits and two walks in the Rays win over the Rangers. 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): Sawyer Gipson-Long, Starting Pitcher (Detroit Tigers) $10,400: Riley Greene, Outfielder (Detroit Tigers) $9,600: Yandy Diaz, First Baseman (Tampa Bay Rays) $5,600.
