FanDuel Best MLB DFS Picks: Pirates vs. Tigers 6/17/25

Major League Baseball presents FanDuel baseball fans with an interleague matchup featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers game 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 tonight’s Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers matchup.

FanDuel MLB DFS Picks

MVP-Javier Baez, Shortstop, Detroit Tigers $7,000

On Tuesday night, Major League Baseball presents the opening game of a three-game interleague series featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers.

How are these two teams playing entering this evening’s interleague contest? The Detroit Tigers arrive at the first game of this three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates playing good baseball. The Tigers have won four of the team’s last seven games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles five days ago.

In direct contrast to the Detroit Tigers, the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing below average baseball entering the opening game of this series. Let me be more specific. The Pirates have lost four of the team’s last six games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs last week.

Now that we have identified how both of these teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to today’s game. Veteran shortstop Javier Baez has certainly been a standout performer for the Detroit Tigers this season. With that said, how has the talented shortstop performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s examine Baez’s relevant game data from the 2025 MLB regular season to answer that question.

In the 73 games that Javier Baez has played for the Detroit Tigers in the 2025 MLB regular season, Baez has compiled a .280 batting average, 13 home runs, eight walks, 33 RBIs (runs batted in), 30 runs scored, a .320 OBP (On-Base Percentage) and a .757 OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging).

More recently, in the Detroit Tigers 11-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds four days ago, Tigers shortstop Javier Baez amassed three hits (one home run, one double), three runs scored, one walk and two RBIs. Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Tigers defeat of the Reds, Baez tallied a massive 40.6 FanDuel points.

In my view, Javier Baez’s low FanDuel price of only $7,000 presents the best fantasy value on this DFS slate. For that specific reason, I am backing Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez at the MVP position for this one game MLB DFS slate.

Flex plays I like in this MLB game (FanDuel price noted): Riley Greene, Outfielder (Detroit Tigers) $12,000: Andrew McCutchen, Outfielder (Pittsburgh Pirates) $7,800: Jahmai Jones, Second Baseman (Detroit Tigers) $4,400.