With the first games underway, we are going to be flooded with new information. All the spring lineup speculation will give way to actual lineups. The dream that someone might not be stuck in a platoon will die. The hope that a player’s newfound spring plate discipline is a game changer will be dashed. And before too long, you will learn where your roster is deep enough to withstand those losses, plus injuries, and where you aren’t.

You will also potentially have some open roster spots. Maybe you roster Justin Steele and now he is on the 60-day IL. Maybe one of those guys you were dreaming on turns into a cut by April. The good news is, sudden roster needs and suddenly available roster spots go together like a hot dog and a beer – the existence of the former means you probably need the latter, and the latter is just so much better when you pair it with the former.

So let’s try to find readily available players to fill those needs on your open roster. Here is one guy at each position who is currently <50% rostered in Ottoneu who you can go out and pick up if you find yourself in need.N

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Let’s get this party started!

Sorry, Oneil, you’re not invited.

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• Daily SP Chart archive
• SP Rankings

And just like that, we’re back! Welcome to the Daily SP Chart.

The chart includes their performance for 2025 until we get some actual data for this year (I changed over in late-April last year), their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness from last year (not a perfect solution as teams change in the offseason, but better than using just a few days of data from this year), my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about some, most, or all depending on the day. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s a much riskier stream for those spots.

These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more value focusing on roto.

I usually won’t have much to write about aces who are locked into our rotations, you don’t really need a shiny stat to be convinced on starting Kirby or Sale. If you want to discuss someone further, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get you an answer when I can. I try to do a few sweeps of the comments before game time in case there are time-sensitive questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Schedule is obviously one of the biggest drivers for picking up a streamer. You can’t plan too far out because things can change on a dime, especially in cold weather spots this early in the season. But let’s see if the first few weeks can offer some worthy pickups.

Brandon Williamson – PIT, at MIA, maybe LAA

Injuries cleared a path for Williamson to sneak into the rotation and he sets up beautifully against two of the worst teams versus lefties last year. Pittsburgh was 29th in wOBA and Miami was 23rd. Pittsburgh did lengthen their lineup, but two of the three big adds are lefties (Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn). The Angels outing is a maybe as Nick Lodolo could be back, but then Williamson might shift into Chase Burns’s follower which is still a great role. Burns is slated to be part of the LAA series and then will pitch at MIN/at TBR if things hold, but that’s looking way too far out to have any real confidence in it. Pick him up for PIT/at MIA and we’ll go from there. The dream is Ryan Yarbrough 2.0 and they let him follow Burns (or Lowder) all year.

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With Opening Day finally here, draft season has officially come to a close. I’ve been drafting on and off since November and ended up with about 20 teams this season.

In this article, I’ll be breaking down the players that ended up on at least 40% of my rosters, and highlighting why they were targets of mine over the past several months of drafting.

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David Richard-Imagn Images

As I write this, the game is a lull between tons of news on who made which roster and real results. I went through some of my thoughts on several players and situations to track over the next few days.

American League

Angels

• While he struggled this spring (.483 OPS), Christian Moore showed major signs of improvement. He posted a new max Exit Velocity by 3 mph and his contact% jumped from 60% last spring to 75% this year. A .214 BABIP kept the 23-year-old’s  overall stats down, but he’s a guy to monitor when he gets promoted later in the year. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time to start juggling lineups for the next 26.5 weeks!

Max Fried hurled 6.1 scoreless, two-hit innings in a 4-0 victory over the Giants. Every Yankee earned a hit, except for Aaron Judge, who went 0-5 with four strikeouts. Logan Webb punched out seven batters, but decimated the ratios of one fantasy manager in every league with six earned runs allowed over five innings. We get baseball on the television for most of the day, with 11 games on this official Opening Day.

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Hot Right Now (HRN) is a weekly 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. (I won’t include this section until we’re a few weeks into the regular season.)

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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Thanks for coming out!!

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Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Historically, when I’ve done the Big Kid Adds, I looked at the players added in about half of the Elite Leagues (previously named High Stakes). Most of the leagues had just drafted, so there weren’t many moves. This week, I decided to dive into the guys added in two leagues or those that warranted double-digit bids.

Hitters

Moisés Ballesteros: Ballesteros can hit, but it might be hard for the 22-year-old to get full-time at-bats at DH. A solid 20 HR and .275 AVG bat.

Carson Williams: With an injury to Taylor Walls, Williams is now the Rays’ starting shortstop. I think the idea of Carson Williams might be better than the actual player. While he has shown the ability to hit for power and steal bases in AAA, he has major contact issues. In 466 AAA plate appearances, he has a 34% K%. In 106 PA last year in the majors, he posted a 42% K%. And he showed no improvement this Spring Training, with his Contact% dropping from 74% last year to 69%. He’s a broke man’s Oneil Cruz.

Jake Meyers: I’d not be surprised if Meyers ends up being one of the most added and dropped players this year. There will be weeks when he’ll be needed because of an injury replacement.

Starters

Carmen Mlodzinski (2): Lots of preseason talk revolved around Mlodzinski going to the bullpen. Now he’s in the rotation, and I’m interested. Last season, he posted a 3.60 xFIP (8.1 K/9, 48% GB%). And he went off this spring with a 10.2 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, and 57% GB%. He’s changed his pitch mix by leaning into his sinker (67% GB%), splitter (23% SwStr%, 50% GB%), and curve (12% SwStr%, 68% GB%). A must add to see where this goes.

Sean Burke (2): He’s in the White Sox rotation, but has been struggling. The biggest key for him is throwing strikes, as seen by his 4.2 BB/9 last season. His walk rate is down to 3.1 BB/9 in Spring Training. The only change is that he’s not throwing his subpar curveball (9% SwStr%, 42% GB%) as much.

Ryan Johnson (2): Johnson made the Angels rotation. He got hit around last year with a 2.5 HR/9 and .426 BABIP, but posted a 3.97 xFIP. This spring, he focused on his sinker (67% GB%) and splitter (67% GB%), and his groundball rate increased to 57%. He might have similar results to his teammate, José Soriano.

Brandon Sproat: Made the Brewers rotation after a solid 9 IP (2.51 xFIP) this spring. All his pitch velocities increased by 1-2 mph. He threw five pitches between 34% and 14% last season and continued those rates this Spring Training. The four-seamer and change stink, and he might have some upside if he cut down or eliminated their usage.

Landen Roupp: I was hoping he would improve his control after a 3.8 BB/9 last season. Nope, his walk rate jumped to 4.9 BB/9 this spring. He can miss bats and keep the ball on the ground, but he just walks too many batters.

Walker Buehler: By default, he’s in the Padres rotation. He’s been horrible over the last two seasons (5.10 ERA, 4.86 xFIP, 1.53 WHIP) and lost almost 2 mph on his pitches this spring. There are so many better options.

Rhett Lowder: While Lowder’s ERA is all over the place, one item remains constant: he walks a ton of batters (4.5 BB/9 this spring). He destroys a team’s WHIP. In deep leagues, he might be worth adding-and-benching to see if he can start throwing strikes, but be ready to move on once a better option materializes.

Eduardo Rodriguez: In the WBC, he threw over four innings of shutout ball against the USA team. He’s had good starts before, never sticking.  Over 10 seasons, his talent has varied from streamable to unplayable. I don’t expect that to change this year.

Relievers

Jordan Romano (2): Possibly in the mix for Saves with the Angels.

Didier Fuentes: After a great spring (0.22 WHIP, 0.66 ERA), the 20-year-old will be used out of the bullpen as a long reliever.

JoJo Romero: Possibly in the mix for Saves with the Cardinals.