Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with a National League matchup featuring the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings MLB 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 tomorrow afternoon’s Nationals vs. Braves matchup.
Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks
Captain-AJ Smith-Shawver, Starting Pitcher, Atlanta Braves $12,400
This Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball presents the final game of a four-game National League series featuring the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves.
How are these two teams playing entering tomorrow’s National League game? The Atlanta Braves arrive at the fourth game of this four-game series with the Washington Nationals playing good baseball. The Braves have won seven of the team’s last 11 games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last week.
In direct contrast to the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Nationals are playing below average baseball entering tomorrow afternoon’s game. More specifically, the Nationals have lost seven of the team’s last eight games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals three days ago.
Now that we have determined how both teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to tomorrow’s game. Talented starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver has been a standout performer for the Atlanta Braves this season. With that said, how has Smith-Shawver pitched from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Smith-Shawver’s game data to answer that question.
Through six starts made for the Atlanta Braves this season, starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver has compiled a robust 2.75 ERA (Earned Run Average) and a 1.35 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched). It should also be noted that Smith-Shawver has amassed 34 strikeouts while allowing 15 walks in 32.2 innings pitched in 2025.
Earlier this month, in the Atlanta Braves 4-0 shutout victory over the Cincinnati Reds, AJ Smith-Shawver certainly pitched at a high level. Let me be more specific. Smith-Shawver pitched eight quality innings striking out five Reds batters while scattering one hit and four walks in the Braves defeat of the Reds.
In my opinion, AJ Smith-Shawver is the most likely player to post the highest number of Draftkings points in tomorrow’s National League game. For that specific reason, I am rolling with Atlanta Braves starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver at the captain position for this one game MLB Draftkings Showdown contest.
Flex plays I like to play well in this MLB regular game (Draftkings price noted): Trevor Williams, Starting Pitcher (Washington Nationals) $10,400: James Wood, Outfielder (Washington Nationals) $9,200: Austin Riley, Third Baseman (Atlanta Braves) $9,400.