Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Royals vs. Yankees 10/5/24

On Saturday night, Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with a playoff matchup between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees. Let’s take a look at this MLB Game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees 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 Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees matchup.

Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks

Captain-Gerrit Cole, Pitcher, New York Yankees $11,400

On Saturday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the opening Game of an American League Division playoff series featuring the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees.

How are these two teams playing entering this afternoon’s MLB playoff Game? The New York Yankees arrive at the first Game of this American League Division series with the Kansas City Royals playing subpar baseball. More specifically, the Yankees lost four of the team’s last six Games played in the 2024 MLB regular season, including a 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates last week.

In direct contrast to the New York Yankees, the Kansas City Royals have been playing quality baseball recently. More specifically, the Royals have won six of the team’s last eight games played this season, including a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves five days ago.

Now that we have determined how both of these Major League Baseball teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to this this evening’s American League Division series game. New York pitcher Gerrit Cole has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the American League. Having stated that, how has the Yankees hurler been playing from a statistical standpoint in 2024? Let’s review Cole’s game data from this season to answer that question.

In the 17 games that Gerrit Cole pitched for the New York Yankees in the 2024 MLB regular season, Cole has posted a 3.41 ERA (Earned Run Average), 1.13 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched) and added 99 strikeouts while allowing 29 walks.

More recently, in the New York Yankees 10-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles nine days ago, New York starting pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched exceptionally well. Cole pitched six quality innings striking out five Baltimore batters while allowing two hits and one walk in the Yankees victory over the Orioles. It has to be said, those are the type of DFS numbers I need to see from a player that I select for the captain position.

Flex plays I like (Draftkings price noted): Michael Wacha, Starting Pitcher, (Kansas City Royals) $10,600: Bobby Witt Jr., Shortstop (Kansas City Royals) $9,400: Juan Soto, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $9,200: Aaron Judge, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $9,800.