Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds
September 21, 2025 1:40 pm EDT
Major League Baseball presents FanDuel baseball fans with a National League matchup featuring the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds and the Athletics. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds let’s review the rules for the FanDuel single game showdown contest.
FanDuel Single Game Contest Rules
Here are the FanDuel single game contest rules. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team MVP. The MVP accumulates 1.5x times the standard FanDuel fantasy points value. Additionally, the MVP is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining five players in your lineup will be flex plays. The five flex positions will receive the standard FanDuel points value. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) FanDuel single game contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game contest, I highly recommend that you check out the FanDuel website for more details.
*It should be noted that FanDuel does not utilize the pitcher position in single game MLB contests. Having stated that, only batters are available for single game MLB lineups on the FanDuel platform.
Here are my FanDuel picks for this afternoon’s Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds matchup.
FanDuel MLB DFS Picks
MVP-Elly De La Cruz, Shortstop, Cincinnati Reds $13,600
On Sunday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the final game of a four-game National League series featuring the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds.
How are these two teams playing entering today’s MLB contest? The Cincinnati Reds arrive at the fourth game of this four-game series with the Chicago Cubs playing good baseball. The Reds have won five of the team’s last six games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 3-0 shutout victory over the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week.
In direct contrast to the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs are playing below average baseball entering the final game of this National League series. Let me be more specific. The Cubs have lost three of the team’s last four games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds two days ago.
Now that we have determined how both of these teams are currently playing let’s turn our attention to this evening’s contest. Veteran shortstop Elly De La Cruz has certainly been a standout performer for the Cincinnati Reds starting lineup this season. With that said, how has the talented shortstop performed from a statistical standpoint? Let’s examine De La Cruz’s relevant game data from the 2025 MLB regular season to answer that question.
In the 155 games that Elly De La Cruz has played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 2025 MLB regular season, De La Cruz has compiled a .262 batting average, 20 home runs, 65 walks, 83 RBIs (runs batted in), 36 stolen bases (sixth in MLB), 100 runs scored (11th in MLB), a .336 OBP (On-Base Percentage) and a .773 OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging).
In my opinion, Elly Da La Cruz is the most likely player to amass the most FanDuel points in this MLB game. For that specific reason, I am rolling with Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly Da La Cruz at the MVP position for this MLB DFS contest.
Flex plays I like in this MLB regular season game (FanDuel price noted): TJ Friedl, Outfielder (Cincinnati Reds) $4,600: Spencer Steer, Outfielder (Cincinnati Reds) $5,600: Michael Busch, First Baseman (Chicago Cubs) $8,200.
