Major League Baseball is ready to get another awesome weekend of action on the diamonds underway with a very busy Friday night. While all 30 teams are in action, the 13 games starting at 7:05 p.m. or later are on the main DFS fantasy baseball slate. With 26 teams in the player pool, there are plenty of big names in smash spots, but some strong MLB DFS value picks also stand out, since they offer major upside at lower salaries. If you need to go cheap at a spot or two to balance your spending, these values can definitely stretch your salary cap space while still bringing upside.

The weather for the evening games looks fairly clear, with Baltimore the only potential rainy spot. Early in the season, some games are still a little chilly, which usually helps pitchers, but there are also some favorable spots for offense in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Let’s dive in and take a look at a few of the best value plays from the 26 teams in the player pool this Friday night:

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Rally Cap [$50K to 1st]

Best MLB DFS value plays

SP Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City Royals, $6,400

Of the probable pitchers for Friday night, Kikuchi is my top value play. The lefty is coming off his best start of the year and is in a good matchup against the Royals. He had 25.9 FPTS in a no-decision against the Padres last Saturday, allowing just four hits in six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. He also had eight strikeouts against the Braves a couple of starts ago to earn 15 FPTS despite giving up four runs. His strikeout potential can help him overcome a few runs against him, and he should have a good chance to get his first win of the year if he turns in another outing like his last one, especially going against a struggling Noah Cameron ($7,200).

The Royals have scored the second-fewest runs in the majors this season, hitting .229 as a team with an 85 team wRC+. Against lefties, they have a 67 wRC+ as a team, indicating that they are 33% below league average at creating runs against southpaws. Kikuchi should be able to limit damage, and if he continues his strikeout form, he has great upside from under $6,500.

OF Carlos Cortes, Athletics at Texas Rangers, $3,100

While he doesn’t bring as much power as some of his more well-known teammates, Cortes has been a nice addition to the middle of the A’s lineup. He hit .309 with a .363 wOBA in his 99 games last season, and this year, he’s hitting a solid .327 with a 50% hard-hit rate and 12.5% barrel rate.

Cortes has a .406 wOBA on the season with four doubles and two homers, and he already is just one barrel short of his total from all of last year, even though he’s only played in 19 games. Cortes is 8-for-17 (.471) in his last four games with two doubles and a homer, helping him to average 10.25 DraftKings points per game over that small sample size. He and the A’s are in a solid spot against Nathan Eovaldi ($8,500), who has a 5.06 ERA in his first five starts this season.

SS J.P. Crawford, Seattle Mariners at St. Louis Cardinals, $2,700

Crawford has moved back to the leadoff spot in the Mariners’ lineup for several of the last few games, and he’s starting to get a little bit of a rhythm after a delayed start to the season. He’s still only hitting .200 (12-for-60), he’s 6-for-25 (.240) with three doubles and a homer over his last six games.

He was unsuccessful in his only stolen base attempt this season, but he has a solid 41.3% hard-hit rate and 10.9% barrel rate. Normally, a leadoff hitter has a little more speed to offer, but Crawford does a good enough job getting on base and brings enough pop to be a solid play under $3,000 if he’s atop the lineup against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante ($6,300), who has a 4.05 ERA and 5.20 FIP and has let lefties like Crawford post a .256 average and .339 wOBA.