Hot Right Now (HRN) is a weekly Ottoneu feature focused on popular players currently being auctioned or players who you should think about auctioning in your Ottoneu leagues. Even if you don’t play Ottoneu, we’ll be highlighting players you should be looking at in deeper and keeper formats. In this feature, we will break down players into two sections:

1. Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
2. Hot Performers: Players with a high P/G or P/IP over the last 14 days who are also rostered in 80% of leagues or less.

The RotoGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.

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Note: I normally dig through regular articles for information, and during the season find little useful information. I’m going to transition to at least going through the team injury information to find some actionable items.

American League

Blue Jays

• While the team likes Brandon Valenzuela’s pitch calling …

His work behind the plate has also improved during that span, with ace Kevin Gausman saying his pitch framing “is getting close to Kirky’s level where you think you’re throwing way more strikes than maybe you are.” Read the rest of this entry »

Congrats to the future Hall of Famer!

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• Daily SP Chart archive
• 2-Start podcast episode
• SP Rankings (last update: 6/5 | next: July)

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

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In a previous article, we looked at starting pitchers who improved or lost their stuff and command over the past two seasons. This time, we’re examining starting pitchers that gained stuff and command in May and June compared to April to identify small sample changes. Sometimes a pitcher’s stuff and command improve closer toward the career averages. However, there can notable changes in a pitcher’s location and movement profiles that impact their stuff and command grades. This may be small sample noise, but it can also represent a change. Fantasy leagues can be won by being an early mover on a player who is breaking out. We’ll examine a few starting pitchers who made improvements in their stuff and command since May 1.

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As we move deeper into the season, teams are starting to ask themselves if it is time to buy or sell and, if so, what buying or selling looks like. How aggressively do I want to ship out potential keepers for a shot at a title? How far do I have to get in rebuilding my roster before the deadline so I am ready for 2027? In at attempt to dig into some of this, I have been looking at 2025 roster and results data. I have a long series of questions I want to look into – how much is too much to spend on top players? Stars and scrubs or balance? – and today I am going to start with this one:

If you are trying to build a strong 2027 team, is it best to do that via keepers you held through the off-season? Players you trade for during the off-season? Or the auction?

I think this is a pretty useful question to answer right now because it impacts sellers and buyers. Sellers are already thinking about 2027 directly; but buyers are trying to determine how willing they should be to break apart their core to win right now. So they are also wondering how they can/will build a 2027 roster if they are giving up keepers today.

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I believe I can fly!

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• Daily SP Chart archive
• 2-Start podcast episode
• SP Rankings (last update: 6/5 | next: July)

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

• I know there’s been some consternation with Skenes as he’s been less godlike than normal lately but I kept him at #1 in my recent rankings update as I didn’t find the 4-start blip to be actionable. I wouldn’t quibble with someone slotting in a new #1, but for me he holds for now. He’ll calm any and all fears with a gem here and I’m eager to see how he handles one of the best offenses going.
• Burns draws today’s top spot and ascended to Ace status in my latest update as the #7 overall arm. He is truly a 2.0 version of Hunter Greene, improving both the HR and BB rates that plagued Greene early on in his career. Burns is up at 1.2 HR9 this year (after a 1.0 flat in last year’s debut), but Greene sat at 1.6 in his first two years before improving. It took Greene three seasons to post a BB rate under 9% while Burns is toting an 8% mark right now (not a huge difference there, admittedly). Imagine if Cincy can get these two clicking together.
• Cease is returning from a hamstring injury that cost him a couple weeks but he did make a rehab start and I’m willing to get him right back in. As I always mention with these, every fantasy manager has their own way of handling first starts off the IL, so do what works best for you. I do consider the injury type in my start/sit with arm-related injuries being more worrisome. That isn’t to say a hammy can’t hamper you, just that I’m more inclined to get back in right away on non-arm related issues.
• I believe Melton is quite a bit better than his 4% K-BB and having watched all three of his starts this year, I can confirm he has pitched like someone with 4-5x that mark, including back-to-back long outings of 7 and 8 IP where he allowed just 3 ER on 10 H and 3 BB but with just 6 Ks. The dam will break if he doesn’t improve, though, as a .175 BABIP will only hold for so long, particularly when you’re allowing that much contact. The Tigers are on the verge of potentially a trio of arms returning (Skubal-Mize-JV), including their ace, but I really hope Melton’s job isn’t threatened. With Jack Flaherty pitching better of late (26% K-BB in L3) and his lofty contract – which does matter whether we like it or not – he’s unlikely to be unseated, either. I wonder if they consider a 6-man to ease Skubal and Verlander back, shifting Montero to the pen and going Skubal-Framber-Mize-Flaherty-JV-Melton.
• I wasn’t sold on May during his April rebound as he worked off the ugly 13 ER from his first two starts with a 1.95 ERA in his final four starts of the month as they came with a modest 12% K-BB. But his last 30 IP have drawn my interest as his 3.90 ERA is powered by a 1.00 WHIP and 20% K-BB, including at least 7 Ks in each of his last 3 (and 4 of 5). He has nearly doubled his swinging strike rate, going from 7% to 13%, and done so by dialing up his cutter usage 10 pts to 29%. A great matchup here gives him a chance to stay hot and then folds into a potential 2-step next week v. SDP and at KCR.
• I couldn’t see myself sitting Kyle Harrison in any format yesterday, even knowing the dangers of Vegas. But after seeing this game… and still seeing it in fact, as I’m watching the 12th inning while writing this… you will not see a single “x” for the rest of that series. Ginn, Perkins for ATH and Gasser, Sproat for MIL will be nowhere near any lineups. Meanwhile, daily players are left with an interesting choice between stacking Vegas or Coors.
• Holmes is predominantly a Win chase. The White Sox are no joke as a lineup so they could clip him as their strength is homers and he has a 1.7 HR9, but he has managed to avoid letting the longball sink of late w/a 2.91 ERA in his L4 despite five bombs. This is probably more a 1.5-x (maybe even 1) reco as I look deeper into it. If you’re OK chasing Wins at the potential expense of ratios, feel free to run him.
• I’ve been tracking Alvarez the last few weeks as he’s been stretched out into a starter. He got his first traditional start last time out and fell just an out shy of a strong 5 IP (4.7 IP/1 ER/5 base runners/5 Ks) while reaching a season-high 82 pitches. He also lines up for a 2-step next week v. KCR and at TBR, so don’t be afraid to stash him for that even if you skip this one.
• I miiiight have still given Cecconi 1-x if Judge was in the lineup as he’s put up a decent 3.09 ERA/1.28 WHIP/14% K-BB in his L6 including a gem against the Yanks last time out (though they were already Judge-free at that point).

If you have questions on anyone else, drop a comment!

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Every Monday, this column will break down the most popular waiver wire and free agent acquisitions of the weekend.

Fantasy baseball managers know that our game is the ultimate test of grit, grind, tenacity, and patience. Unlike fantasy football, where league titles can be won with minimal in-season activity, fantasy baseball leagues require incessant attention and activity. Particularly when it comes to free agent adds and drops. Real-life baseball managers are constantly adjusting batting orders, players are frequently optioned to and promoted from the Minor Leagues, and injuries occur almost daily. There’s no resting on our laurels. We must always stay vigilant with league news and notes and remain active on the waiver wire if we want to win our leagues.

Every week, I’ll dig into the top adds on the ever-popular Fantrax and in the NFBC Online Championship (OC), a national mid-stakes contest with 240 total leagues of 12 and a six-figure grand prize. Reviewing player adds between the two should provide us with a well-rounded perspective and barometer of the fantasy baseball marketplace.

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Now that the foundations have been laid and the methodology explained in Part 1 of this series, we can dive deeper into some of these pitchers.

As noted in the previous piece, Corbin Young wrote two breakdowns of individual rookie starters that I will link below:

The first covering Nolan McLean, Bubba Chandler, and Parker Messick. Link here.

The second covering Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Brandon Sproat, and Trey Yesavage. Link here.

So this will be more of a collective analysis of the rough groupings and what stands out from the composite rating, and whether any deeper stats can further support or provide additional context for fantasy purposes.

The composite z-score rating has provided a solid framework for assessing this group of rookies, and most have now logged enough innings to draw early conclusions from the metrics. It is these pitchers who will receive the bulk of the analysis in this piece, while Gage Jump has looked enticing in his two starts — 12 innings is not quite enough for meaningful metric analysis just yet, but well worth keeping a close eye on.

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