Major League Baseball presents Draftkings baseball fans with a National League matchup featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets. Let’s take a look at this MLB game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Mets 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 tonight’s Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Mets matchup.
Draftkings MLB Showdown Picks
Captain-Paul Skenes, Starting Pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates $11,800
On Monday night, Major League Baseball presents the opening game of a three-game National League series featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets.
How are these two teams playing entering tonight’s MLB game? The Pittsburgh Pirates arrive at the first game of this three-game series with the New York Mets playing below average baseball. More specifically, the Pirates have lost seven of the team’s last nine games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a 5-0 shutout loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last week.
Conversely, the New York Mets are playing well entering this evening’s game. The Mets have won three of the team’s last four games played in the 2025 MLB regular season, including a dominant 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs three days ago.
Now that we have determined how both teams are currently playing let’s shift our focus to this evening’s contest. Talented starting pitcher Paul Skenes has certainly illustrated that he is a key member of the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitching rotation this season. Having stated that, how has Skenes played from a statistical standpoint? Let’s review Paul Skene’s game data to answer that question.
Through eight starts made for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, starting pitcher Paul Skenes has compiled a robust 2.77 ERA (Earned Run Average), a 0.95 WHIP (walks, hits, inning pitched). It should also be noted that Skenes has tallied 47 strikeouts while allowing 12 walks in 48.2 innings pitched in 2025.
More recently, in the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 shutout victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last month, Paul Skenes pitched exceptionally well. Let me be more specific. Skenes pitched 6.1 quality innings striking out nine Los Angeles batters while scattering five hits and no walks in the Pirates win over the Dodgers. I think it’s fair to say that Skenes is getting it done on the mound in 2025.
What did we learn from the data just presented? Clearly, Paul Skenes is pitching at a high-level entering tonight’s National League clash with the New York Mets. For that specific reason, I am backing Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes at the captain position for this one game MLB Draftkings Showdown contest.
Flex plays I like in tonight’s game (Draftkings price noted): David Peterson, Starting Pitcher (New York Mets) $10,600: Pete Alonso, First Baseman (New York Mets) $9,600: Joey Bart, Catcher (Pittsburgh Pirates) $7,200.