Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Royals vs. Yankees 10/7/24

On Monday 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-Cole Ragans, Starting Pitcher, Kansas City Royals $11,400

On Monday night, Major League Baseball presents the second 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 today’s MLB playoff game? The New York Yankees arrive at the second 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 seven games played this 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 nine games played this season, including a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves six days ago.

It should be noted that the New York Yankees won the opening game of this American League Division playoff series two days ago defeating the Kansas City Royals 6-5.

Now that we have determined how both of these American League teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to this evening’s Game. Kansas City pitcher Cole Ragans has quickly established himself as one of the best strikeout pitchers in the American League. Having stated that, how has Ragans been playing from a statistical standpoint in 2024? Let’s review Ragan’s recent Game data to answer that question.

In the 32 Games that Cole Ragans pitched for the Kansas City Royals in the 2024 MLB regular season, Ragans posted a robust 3.14 ERA (Earned Run Average), 1.14 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched) and added a massive 223 strikeouts while allowing 67 walks.

More recently, in the Kansas City Royals 1-0 shutout win over the Baltimore Orioles six days ago, Kansas City starting pitcher Cole Ragans certainly pitched at a high level. More specifically, Ragans pitched six quality innings striking out eight Baltimore batters while scattering four hits in the Kansas City Royals victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

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 Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans as my captain for this one game MLB DFS slate.

Flex plays I like (Draftkings price noted): Carlos Rodon, Starting Pitcher (New York Yankees) $10,800: Bobby Witt Jr., Shortstop, (Kansas City Royals) $9,200: Aaron Judge, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $9,600: Salvador Perez, Catcher (Kansas City Royals) $7,600.