FanDuel Best MLB DFS Picks: Pirates vs. Guardians 8/31/24

Major League Baseball presents a matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Guardians. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a FanDuel perspective.

Before we dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cleveland Guardians 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 2x times the standard FanDuel fantasy points value.

The remaining four players in your lineup will be one star and three flex plays. The star player will receive 1.5x the standard fantasy points value. The final three 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 this evening’s Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cleveland Guardians matchup.

FanDuel MLB Player Selections

Jose Ramirez, Third Baseman, Cleveland Guardians $10,000

On Saturday evening, Major League Baseball presents the second Game of a three Game interleague series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Guardians.

How are these two teams playing entering tonight’s MLB Game? The Pittsburgh Pirates arrive at this evening’s contest playing subpar baseball. More specifically, the Pirates have lost four consecutive baseball Games, including an 18-8 loss to the Chicago Cubs earlier in the week.

Similar to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cleveland Guardians have not been playing good baseball recently. The Guardians have lost nine of the team’s last 14 games played in the 2024 MLB regular season, including a 6-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals four days ago.

It should also be noted that the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cleveland Guardians 10-8 in last night’s second game of this three game interleague series.

Now that we have determined how both of these Major League Baseball teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to tonight’s game. In my opinion, talented Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez is one of the best hitters in the American League. Let’s review Ramirez’s recent game data to better shed light on my previous statement.

In his last four games played for the Cleveland Guardians this season, Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez has accumulated six hits (three doubles), three runs scored, two RBIs (runs batted in) and one walk in 14 plate appearances.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct MVP is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) contest. In summary, I am backing Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez at the MVP position for this one game MLB DFS slate.

Flex Plays

Bryan Reynolds, Outfielder, Pittsburgh Pirates $8,500

Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds has been a consistent contributor to the Pittsburgh Pirates offense in the 2024 MLB regular season. In his last two Games played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2024 MLB regular season, Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds has tallied five hits (one home run), two RBIs (runs batted in), four runs scored, and one walk in ten plate appearances.

Additional flex plays I like (Draftkings price noted): Lane Thomas, Outfielder (Cleveland Guardians) $7,500: Oneil Cruz, Shortstop (Pittsburgh Pirates) $8,200.