Toronto Blue Jays outfielders George Springer and Kevin Kiermaier are taking the day off on Friday for the series opener against the visiting Minnesota Twins. Davis Schneider is starting in left field and is hitting leadoff, while Daulton Varsho is in center field and batting No. 2 against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan. Cavan Biggio is in right field and hitting seventh. Springer will get his first day off since April 30. He's hitting just .206 (29-for-141) on the year with three homers, six RBI and six stolen bases. Kiermaier has one homer, seven RBI and two steals while hitting .224 (15-for-67). Varsho will be the most attractive fantasy option for regular leagues and in DFS on Friday night, while Schneider also takes on some added value while batting atop Toronto's order.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jose Siri is on the bench again on Friday for the Rays for the start of a series against the visiting division-rival New York Yankees. It's the third time in the last four games that Siri has been on the bench, and he's been losing playing time to Jonny DeLuca, who is in center field and batting sixth on Friday against Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt. It hasn't helped Siri's cause that he's slashing just .170/.255/.277 with two home runs, seven RBI, six stolen bases and 11 runs scored in his first 94 at-bats this year. The return of Josh Lowe to Tampa's outfield recently has been another factor working against Siri as the 28-year-old continues to lose playing time. DeLuca's fantasy stock is rising, meanwhile, as he's gone 7-for-20 (.350) with a homer, 10 RBI and two steals in his first six games with the team in 2024.

Detroit Tigers outfielder Mark Canha (illness) is back in the starting lineup on Friday as the designated hitter and is batting third against the visiting Houston Astros and left-hander Framber Valdez. Canha missed two games earlier this week while battling an upper-respiratory illness, but he's obviously feeling better now and is back in there for the series opener this weekend in Detroit. The 35-year-old veteran outfielder/designated hitter is batting .248 (29-for-117) on the year with five home runs and 16 RBI in his 34 games played. Canha has had decent success against left-handed pitchers in his career and shouldn't be ignored in this one in DFS now that he's past his illness. In his 14 career at-bats against Valdez, he's hitting .286 with one RBI as well.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar went 1-for-5 with a solo home run to drive in the team's lone run in Thursday's 7-1 loss to the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers in the series opener. Nootbaar has now homered in back-to-back games but is still hitting only .184/.290/.356 with three home runs, nine RBI, two stolen bases and eight runs scored in 87 at-bats after getting a late start in 2024 due to an injury. In his last 10 games, he's hit .184 (7-for-38) with five extra-base hits. It's nice to see Nootbaar display some power recently, and it could be a sign that he's finally starting to get his timing down at the plate after his first 24 games played. At least until Tommy Edman (wrist) makes his season debut, Nootbaar should be a lineup regular for the Red Birds.

Kansas City Royals outfielder Garrett Hampson contributed in a lot of different areas in Thursday night's 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Hampson went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a stolen base, a run scored and a walk at the bottom of the Royals' batting order. The 29-year-old is currently hitting .268/.302/.317 with no home runs, three RBI, four stolen bases and five runs scored in just 41 at-bats in 2024. The former third-round pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2016 out of Long Beach State offers plenty of defensive versatility but is merely an option for fantasy baseball managers in AL-only leagues because he's currently on the short side of a platoon with Kyle Isbel in center field for the Royals.