Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds will take a seat on the bench for Friday's series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies with left-hander Ranger Suarez taking the bump. Tommy Pham is making the start in left field for Pittsburgh and will hit seventh against Suarez. Not only are the Pirates facing a tough left-hander, but Reynolds could use a day off after going hitless in 21 at-bats with seven strikeouts in his last five games. The cold stretch has dropped the two-time All-Star's season line to .194/.259/.309 with five home runs, 20 RBI, 16 runs scored and three stolen bases in 43 games played. Fantasy managers in single-year leagues may want to keep Reynolds benched until he shows signs of breaking out of his slump. Pham has been worse in 2025, going 19-for-108 (.176) with no homers, six RBI, nine runs and three steals for the Bucs.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (back) remains out of the team's starting lineup for Friday's series opener against the hosting Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Matt Gorski will give it a go in center field and will hit eighth against Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez. This will be Cruz's fifth straight game on the sidelines with back soreness, and if he doesn't recover in time to play this weekend in Philly, the Bucs might decide to put him on the injured list. Cruz hasn't impressed with his .238 average (31-for-130) in 37 games this year, but he's added eight home runs and a league-best 16 stolen bases. Gorski should be considered a low-upside deep DFS streamer near the bottom of Pittsburgh's batting order on Friday night. In his first 14 major-league games in 2025, Gorski has gone 8-for-38 (.211) with two homers and four RBI.

Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford (shoulder) is playing shortstop and batting leadoff for Friday's series opener in San Diego against the Padres and right-hander Stephen Kolek. The Mariners scratched Crawford from Wednesday's series finale against the New York Yankees but he's back after a travel day on Thursday. The 30-year-old brings little power to the shortstop position but has hit a respectable .271 (38-for-140) on the year for the M's with three home runs, 18 RBI, 18 runs scored and two stolen bases in 40 games played. The former 16th overall pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2013 is hitting .240 (12-for-50) with a homer, two doubles, four RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored in 11 games in the month of May. Crawford is hitless in just one career at-bat against Kolek.

The Colorado Rockies announced on Friday that they activated shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (hip) from the 10-day injured list. Tovar is starting at shortstop and batting second in Friday's series opener against the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks and right-hander Corbin Burnes. The Rockies also reinstated infielder/outfielder Tyler Freeman (oblique) and infielder Aaron Schunk (groin) from the 10-day IL, selected the contract of left-hander Carson Palmquist from the minors, optioned outfielder Sean Bouchard to Triple-A Albuquerque, optioned right-hander Anthony Molina to Albuquerque and designated infielder/outfielder Owen Miller and Alan Trejo for assignment. Tovar returns after landing on the IL in mid-April with a bruised hip. The 23-year-old went 4-for-18 in five rehab games for Albuquerque and will return to being Colorado's starting SS. He'll hope to pick things up after hitting just .212 (14-for-66) with no homers in the early going in 2025.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck (shoulder) recently underwent an MRI, which came back clean. That means, Houck appears to have avoided any major injuries to his elbow. The 28-year-old was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier this week due to a flexor strain. That being said, Houck isn't eligible to return to the active roster until basically the end of May. The organization hasn't given a timetable for Houck's return, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him sidelined to begin June. Houck was blasted for 11 earned runs during his latest start, which probably caused many fantasy managers to drop him. The right-hander might be worth stashing if you have an open IR spot. Otherwise, Houck isn't someone that needs to be rostered in standard 12-team formats through this injury.