Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks: Yankees vs. Royals 10/9/24

On Wednesday 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 New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals matchup.

Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks

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

On Wednesday night, Major League Baseball presents the third 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 third game of this American League Division series with the Kansas City Royals playing subpar baseball. More specifically, the Yankees lost five of the team’s last eight 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 seven of the team’s last ten games played this season, including a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves eight days ago.

It should be noted that the Kansas City Royals won the second game of this American League Division playoff series two days ago defeating the New York Yankees 4-2.

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.

In my opinion, Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo has been one of the best starting pitchers in the American League this season. Having stated that, how has Lugo been playing from a statistical perspective in 2024? Let’s review Seth Lugo’s Game data from the 2024 MLB regular season to answer that question.

In the 33 games that Seth Lugo pitched for the Kansas City Royals in the 2024 MLB regular season, Lugo posted a 3.00 ERA (Earned Run Average), 1.09 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched) and added 181 strikeouts while allowing 48 walks.

Last month, in the San Francisco Giants 2-0 shutout win over the Royals, Kansas City starting pitcher Seth Lugo certainly pitched at a high level. More specifically, Lugo pitched seven quality innings striking out five San Francisco batters while scattering three hits and allowing zero walks in the Giants victory over the Royals.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Giants 2-0 win over the Royals just noted, Lugo compiled a whopping 20.1 Draftkings points.

In my opinion, Seth Lugo is the most likely player to post the most fantasy points in tonight’s MLB playoff game. For that specific reason, I am backing Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo at the captain position for this Draftkings MLB Showdown contest.

Flex plays I like (Draftkings price noted): Clarke Schmidt, Starting Pitcher (New York Yankees) $11,000: Bobby Witt Jr., Shortstop, (Kansas City Royals) $9,400: Aaron Judge, Outfielder (New York Yankees) $9,800: Salvador Perez, Catcher (Kansas City Royals) $8,200.