Draftkings Best MLB Showdown Picks: Orioles vs. Guardians 8/1/24

Major League Baseball presents a matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Guardians. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings 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 this evening’s Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians matchup.

Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks

Captain-Ben Lively, Pitcher, Cleveland Guardians $11,000

On Thursday night, Major League Baseball presents the opening game of a four game American League series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Guardians.

How are these two teams playing entering this evening’s Major League Baseball game? The Baltimore Orioles arrive at the first game of this four game American League series with the Cleveland Guardians playing rather decent baseball. Let’s review the Baltimore Orioles recent game data to better shed light on my previous statement. The Orioles have won four of the team’s last five games played this season, including a dominating 10-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays last night.

Similar to the Orioles, the Cleveland Guardians are also playing good baseball. The Guardians have won four of the team’s last five Games played in the 2024 MLB regular season, including an impressive 8-0 shutout win over the Philadelphia Phillies four days ago.

Now that we have determined how both of these American League teams are currently playing let’s turn our attention to this afternoon’s contest. Cleveland pitcher Ben Lively has definitely established himself as a valuable member of the Cleveland Guardians starting pitching rotation in 2024. Having stated that, how has Lively been playing from a statistical standpoint? Let’s review Ben Lively’s recent Game data to answer that question.

In the 22 Games that Ben Lively has pitched for the Cleveland Guardians in 2024 MLB regular season, Ben Lively has posted a respectable 3.44 ERA (Earned Run Average), 1.17 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched) and added 86 strikeouts while allowing 29 walks.

More recently, in the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies five days ago, Cleveland pitcher Ben Lively pitched rather well. More specifically, in the Guardians victory over the Phillies just noted, Lively pitched six quality innings, striking out six Phillies batters while allowing only three hits and two walks.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct captain is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) contest. In summary, I am rolling with Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Ben Lively as my captain for this one game MLB DFS slate.

Flex plays I like to play well this evening (Draftkings price noted): Trevor Rogers, Starting Pitcher (Baltimore Orioles) $10,600: Gunnar Henderson, Shortstop (Baltimore Orioles) $10,000: Andres Gimenez, Second Baseman (Cleveland Guardians) $6,600.