Cincinnati Reds vs. Detroit Tigers
June 15, 2025 12:05 pm EDT
Major League Baseball presents FanDuel baseball fans with an interleague matchup featuring the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Cincinnati Reds 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 tomorrow afternoon’s Reds vs. Tigers matchup.
FanDuel MLB DFS Picks
MVP-Elly De La Cruz, Shortstop, Cincinnati Reds $14,200
On Sunday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the final game of a three-game interleague series featuring the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers.
How are these two teams playing entering tomorrow’s interleague contest? The Cincinnati Reds arrive at the third game of this three-game series with the Detroit Tigers playing good baseball. The Reds have won six of the team’s last eight games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 1-0 shutout victory over the Cleveland Guardians four days ago.
Similar to the Cincinnati Reds, the Detroit Tigers are playing well entering the final game of this series. Let me be more specific. The Tigers have won five of the team’s last eight games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including an 3-1 win over the Chicago Cubs last week.
Now that we have identified how both of these teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to tomorrow afternoon’s contest. Veteran shortstop Elly De La Cruz has certainly been a solid performer for the Cincinnati Reds starting lineup this season. With that said, how has the talented shortstop performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s examine De La Cruz’s relevant game data from the 2025 MLB regular season to answer that question.
In the 71 games that Elly De La Cruz has played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 2025 MLB regular season, De La Cruz has compiled a .256 batting average, 72 hits (12 home runs), 34 walks, 43 RBIs (runs batted in), 20 stolen bases (second in MLB), 54 runs scored, a .348 OBP (On-Base Percentage) and a .787 OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging).
More recently, in the Detroit Tigers 11-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds two days ago, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz amassed three hits (one home run, one double), one run scored and two RBIs. Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Tigers defeat of the Reds, De La Cruz tallied a massive 34.4 FanDuel points.
In my view, De La Cruz is the most likely player to accumulate the most FanDuel points in this MLB game. For that specific reason, I am backing with Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz at the MVP position for this one game MLB DFS slate.
Flex plays I like in this MLB game (FanDuel price noted): TJ Friedl, Outfielder (Cincinnati Reds) $10,600: Riley Greene, Outfielder (Detroit Tigers) $11,800: Spencer Steer, Outfielder (Cincinnati Reds) $4,600: Tyler Stephenson, Catcher (Cincinnati Reds) $8,800.
