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. (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.

Current Auctions

Garrett Mitchell — 81 current auctions — 35.2% roster%

Garrett Mitchell has had a terrible time staying on the field, which in turn has affected his ability to progress in his development. He’s missed more than 400 games over the last three years thanks to a shoulder injury in 2023, a fractured finger in ‘24, and an oblique strain in ‘25. He’s healthy now, and currently raking for the Brewers to start the season. He’s collected multiple hits in three games already and has four extra-base hits in eight games (seven starts). Many of his underlying peripherals look promising too; his hard hit and barrel rates are well above his career norms and his walk rate is up nearly six points.

I’d caution you to pump the brakes a bit. Mitchell has always struggled with contact issues — his career strikeout rate is 34% — and it doesn’t seem like he’s solved that problem despite the improvement in contact quality. So far this year, he’s chasing more than ever, swinging less frequently, and making contact at just a 63.3% rate. Sure, the contact that he has made has been loud, but his plate approach just isn’t sustainable at this rate.

It’s all super small samples right now, and it’s very possible Mitchell will be able to figure out his contact rate issues. With the improvement in contact quality he’s shown, that would probably lead to a pretty significant breakout. I don’t think he’s there yet, and you might be stuck with paying for a hot start to the season without the foundation to back up the results.

Liam Hicks — 62 current auctions — 32.9% roster%

Unlike Mitchell, Liam Hicks already had a solid plate approach established but simply lacked the ability to make authoritative contact. Last year, Hicks ranked in the 91st percentile in whiff rate and the 98th percentile in chase rate, leading to a solid 14.4% strikeout rate and a 11.0% walk rate. Unfortunately, his hard hit rate was 16th worst in baseball and his EV90 was just a hair better at 17th worst.

This year, he’s reworked his swing to add a big leg kick and the results have been dramatically different. His swing speed is up two miles per hour, his hard hit and barrel rates are significantly improved, and his approach looks just as solid as it did last year — he hasn’t whiffed a single time in eight games! The results speak for themselves; he’s blasted three home runs already and is currently sporting a 214 wRC+ with just a .238 BABIP and a .495 expected wOBA. It really seems like the changes he made to his swing have unlocked a new ceiling for him.

What makes Hicks even more exciting from a fantasy standpoint is that he’s eligible at catcher and he’s picking up playing time at first base when he’s not behind the plate. The one thing to monitor is his platoon usage; he’s sat against four of the five left-handed starters the Marlins have faced so far.

James Tibbs III — 57 current auctions — 14.5% roster%

James Tibbs III is getting some attention because he blasted seven home runs in his first nine games at Triple-A this year. He bounced through three organizations last year — he was included in the Rafael Devers trade in June and then in the Dustin May trade in July — and finally landed with the Dodgers to close out the year. As the results indicate, Tibbs has monstrous power from the left side and a pretty good plate approach to support the raw power. His issue as a prospect — and the reason why he was flipped twice in the span of two months — is that he doesn’t really have a defensive home. He’s been used in right field and at first base after joining Los Angeles’s farm system, and it’s likely he’ll make his way to the majors as a bat-first, platoon outfielder. Unfortunately, the Dodgers have a pretty crowded big league roster, particularly at the positions best suited for a player like Tibbs. Yes, he’s currently raking in the minors, but the path to a major league debut is pretty murky right now.

Bryce Elder — 56 current auctions — 7.6% roster%

It’s hard to notice beneath his ugly season stat line, but Bryce Elder actually finished 2025 on a hot streak. Over his final seven outings last year, he ran a 2.82 ERA and a 3.30 FIP, backed by a fantastic 18.6% K-BB%. The key to his success in those final outings down the stretch was a fastball that had a little extra oomph behind it and a slider that had a few extra inches of sink to it.

Fast forward to this year and he’s continued his run of success with two excellent starts. His fastball velocity has fallen back towards his career norms, but his approach and pitch mix look a little different. Adding a cutter to his pitch mix was actually Greg Maddux’s idea — maybe Elder’s improvement this year can be traced back to his conversations with the Hall of Famer back in 2024 — and he’s used the new pitch to attack left-handed batters. That’s allowed him to cut back on the usage of his sinker, and he’s now throwing his slider as his primary pitch. That breaking ball still features the additional vertical movement he added late last year and the pitch has limited batters to a .116 expected wOBA so far. Elder still has excellent command of his repertoire, though Stuff+ isn’t necessarily enamoured with his arsenal despite the tweaks. He isn’t a guy who is going to overpower batters with raw stuff anyway, and he was an All-Star back in 2023, so there’s at least some history of success with his approach.

With starting pitching always difficult to find, I’m interested in seeing if Elder has actually taken a significant step forward with all these changes to his mix and pitch characteristics. He’ll get plenty of runway to prove himself with all the injuries in Atlanta’s starting rotation.

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.

Week 2 Overview

The hottest hitters of the week were Andy Pages (.583 – 2 HR – 7 RBI), Yordan Alvarez (.471-3-8), Oneil Cruz (.360-4-10), Ben Rice (.421-3-9), CJ Abrams (.333-3-10) and Drake Baldwin (.310-2-10). Luisangel Acuña was the only player with four stolen bases. Four consensus first round hitters have yet to hit a home run (Bobby Witt Jr., Ronald Acuña Jr., Julio Rodríguez and Fernando Tatis Jr.). Second-rounders Cal Raleigh and Nick Kurtz have yet to homer as well. It’s a long season, they will be alright. Of the 30 starting pitchers who made two starts in Week 2, 10% (three) earned two wins – Clay Holmes, Michael Soroka and Davis Martin. I’ve tracked two-start pitcher data the last few seasons, and that 10% rate is on par with average week over the last three seasons, usually hovering between 6% and 18% most weeks. Be wary about chasing wins with below-average starting pitchers this early in the season. As the data shows, locking in two wins without crushing the ratios is hard enough for above-average starters. Be particularly careful with mediocre or below-average 2x SPs whose first start is on a Tuesday. Sometimes weather will push their start back until the following week. Occasionally, those pitchers are pulled out of the rotation or demoted if they had a rough first start. Oftentimes, that is for the better to avoid further fantasy ERA/WHIP damage.

As we did last week, let’s review the top trending acquisitions for Fantrax (waivers) and the NFBC 12-team OC (blind bid FAAB).

Roster % is the current percentage of leagues rostering the player; +/-  is the percentage of leagues the player was added in the previous week

% Added is the percentage of leagues that added the player; AWB stands for average winning bid

Jordan Walker has been a disappointment since his rookie season. Despite positive offseason reports about adjustments made at Driveline, Walker struggled in spring training, and was mostly overlooked by NFBC 12-team drafters. I won’t take a victory lap after 10 days, but I would like to mention that Walker is one of my highest rostered hitters this season. Walker was the only player with a triple-digit AWB. Relievers Riley O’Brien and Gregory Soto, and Seattle’s SP5 Emerson Hancock came close. Hancock is now rostered in each of the 240 OCs. O’Brien and Soto are still available in two percent of leagues.

Relievers

It’s the second week in a row where we’re discussing the Cardinals bullpen. Hopefully, it will be the last time. Riley O’Brien had the highest ADP this winter and spring among Cardinals relievers, though a calf injury kept from joining South Korea for the WBC and his ADP began to drop while the ADPs of JoJo Romero and Matt Svanson rose. Veteran Ryne Stanek snagged the first opportunity and closed the game out, though he walked three batters. He then stumbled in his second chance two days later, and O’Brien saved the day. Last week, O’Brien further distanced himself from the pack with three clean innings in three appearances, with two saves. Meanwhile, Matt Svanson has struggled mightily in middle relief. JoJo Romero would like step up for the occasional save opportunity when a southpaw is needed.

Gregory Soto is well known for throwing heat. He saved 30 games for the Tigers in 2022 and has spent the last few seasons as a lefty setup man who walks opposing batters at an above-average clip (over 10%). Last Tuesday, assumed Pirates closer Dennis Santana pitched the eighth inning and Soto handled the ninth, though the Pirates scored two runs in the top of the ninth, so it wasn’t a save opportunity. The Pirates beat the Reds 8-3 again on Wednesday. Santana didn’t make an appearance, but Soto did so again in the ninth; again it wasn’t a save opportunity since the Pirates scored four in the ninth. A similar setup occurred on Friday as Santana pitched a clean eighth and Soto came in to close out the Orioles in the ninth, though he gave up a solo shot to Gunnar Henderson. The Pirates continued their late-game heroics on Saturday. With the game tied 3-3 going into the ninth, Santana stepped in to pitch a clean ninth, then Nick Yorke walked it off with a double to give Santana the win. Soto is the more dynamic of the two, but is less stable because of history with free passes. It’s possible Soto earns more opportunities going forward, though it will likely remain a committee for now. The only thing that can hold Soto running away with the gig is Soto himself.

Paul Sewald was picked up in 21% of Fantrax leagues. Oddly, the Diamondbacks clear-as-day closer is only rostered in 61% of leagues, likely because of the inclusion of 10-teamers, points leagues, and roto leagues where holds are used in addition to saves. Tyler Alexander was scooped up in many leagues, though he is more of a spec-add. He has earned the Rangers only two saves, but is not the clear ninth-inning man. This was originally expected to be a two-man committee with lefty Robert Garcia and righty Chris Martin. Garcia hasn’t been great and Martin has been awful. Martin may move into a setup role, though the Rangers do still need a righty to step up. Perhaps that will be fireballer Cole Winn, who I picked up for $5 in a 15-team league on Sunday. Mark Leiter Jr. might be the first guy dropped from NFBC leagues next week if his struggles continue. He blew the save on Saturday and isn’t even locked into the A’s job. Bryan Baker hasn’t earned a save for the Rays yet, but has been pitching in the highest-leverage spots with Garrett Cleavinger on IL and Griffin Jax struggling.

Starting Pitchers

Hancock, Randy Vásquez and Lance McCullers Jr. were three of the most popular SP acquisitions of the weekend. Hancock followed up his masterful Opening Weekend performance (nine punchouts in six hitless innings) with a solid outing (6.2 IP – 6 H – 1 ER – 0 BB – 5 K) on Saturday, though the Mariners were robbed of three home runs by Angels Jo Adell and lost 1-0. Hancock lines up for a home start (Astros) this week, then a road start against the Padres. He should be quickly snagged in any leagues where he is available, 10-teamers included.

Randy Vásquez had some offseason buzz in deeper formats despite a ridiculously low 15% career walk rate. Folks paying attention may have noticed a slight velocity bump from Vásquez this spring, which he parlayed into two six-inning gems — an 11:4 K:BB with just eight hits and one earned run allowed against the Tigers at home and the Red Sox in Fenway. He has been throwing his four-seam fastball, sinker and slider 1-2 mph faster than last season and boasts an impressive 15.5% swinging-strike rate, albeit in a two-start sample. He now gets the pleasure of facing the Rockies at home, who will be heading over to San Diego from the high elevation of Denver.

The Bryce Elder Experience returns for another tour, likely to yet again tease us before destroying our ratios. Elder had a few good starts last season, but the overall body of work was horrific. His 5.30 ERA ranked sixth-worst among starting pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched. Could this turn into his breakout tour? His pitch mix and velocity remains the same and there’s nothing in his profile that portends massive improvement. He threw six scoreless against the A’s in his first start and seven scoreless with eight punchouts in Arizona on Saturday. It’s enough to lure us into starting him at home against the Guardians this week. Color me dubious, nevertheless.

Hitters

Among the top hitter adds on Fantrax, Mauricio Dubón, Joey Wiemer and Kyle Isbel feel like the ones most likely to find their way back to the free agent pool next week. Dubón has some appeal in deeper formats since he’s on a great offense and offers several positions of eligibility (on Fantrax he’s 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF). Wiemer had a hot start but he’s a short-side platoon bat and is a massive batting average drag. Isbel and his bottom-of-the-order crew have been producing the bulk of the runs over the last week, but it’s only a matter of days before the production shifts to the top and the middle of the Royals lineup.

Rookie infielder Jose Fernandez has cooled off since his 2-HR Major League debut last week, though with Carlos Santana banged up, Fernandez should earn more playing time going forward. In his first four career starts, he has already played first base, third base and DH. Fernandez is shortstop eligible in NFBC and would need to play 10 games at first or third to earn that eligibility. The Diamondbacks have some tough matchups this week facing the Mets and the Phillies.

Mark Vientos and TJ Rumfield are the two most intriguing and potentially valuable hitter acquisitions of the week. Vientos is off to a hot start, hitting .476 in 23 plate appearances. He is playing every day since Jorge Polanco is playing through an Achilles issue and is not ready to play the field yet. The Mets will have to get creative when Polanco can play first base again, but Polanco never had before this season and we don’t know if they’ll revert to their preseason plan. Rumfield isn’t hitting the ball hard (84.3 EV, 32% HH), but he is slashing .345/.406/.586 with two dingers and has the hold on the strong-side platoon at first base. He is a stronger stream option with the Rockies expected to face seven righties this week.

Drop of the Week

It’s hard to imagine Roki Sasaki sticking in the Dodgers rotation much longer after his shaky outing against the lowly Nationals on Sunday (6 ER, 3 BB in 5 IP). Sasaki’s four-seam fastball has averaged 97 mph, but it’s generated a 20% whiff rate and a measly 5.6% strikeout rate. Between his quotes and body language, it is clear that he lacks confidence on the mound. Manager Dave Roberts has been extremely patient throughout Sasaki’s rough spring, but a little reset in the minors or a trip to the minors may be in the cards. There are too many terrific alternatives available in 12-team leagues to continue to ride the Sasaki train, at least for now.

7:31	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now, while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. I start players being added at CBS who started the week on less than 40% of rosters.

The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference, grouped by hitters, starters, and relievers. Read the rest of this entry »

As the years go by, it seems like our attention spans continue to get worse and worse. We want instant gratification from everything, and it’s changed the way people go about their lives.

We don’t wait for letters to arrive, we send messages that arrive instantly. We don’t go to the library and do research, we Google a question and have the answer in two seconds. We don’t watch as many long videos as we used to, instead we are drawn to the 10 second shorts.

This is also true in fantasy baseball, and 2026 might be the worst I’ve ever seen it. We sign up for a six month exercise, and immediately people want to turn over their entire rosters after a weekend of games. The sample sizes are just way too small to be making as many moves as I’m seeing people make this season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even larger entry fees ($2.5K to $15K). They are named Elite leagues (previously called High Stakes Leagues), and there are seven of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

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. (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.

Current Auctions

Emerson Hancock — 146 current auctions — 12.8% roster%

Emerson Hancock threw the best start of his career to open the 2026 season, blanking the Guardians over six hitless innings while setting a career high for strikeouts with nine. Despite being the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft and working his way through Seattle’s vaunted pitching development pipeline, Hancock has struggled across parts of three seasons in the big leagues. Coming into this season, his career FIP was sitting over five with just a 15.6% strikeout rate.

Hancock had a pretty good spring training as he worked on honing his pitch mix; he struck out 21 across 15 innings of work in Arizona. The improvements were evident in his performance on Sunday evening. The biggest difference for him was a four-seamer that featured nearly three inches of added IVB and a sweeper that featured more than an inch and a half of added horizontal break. We don’t have arm angle data yet in this young season, but I suspect that the new movement profile on Hancock’s pitches is thanks to a slightly lower arm slot. He’s lowered his arm angle pretty significantly over the last two years and his release height was a few inches lower in his start on Sunday.

The issue with Hancock is opportunity. He’s getting this shot in the starting rotation because Bryce Miller started the year on the IL with an oblique injury which will keep him sidelined into May. Of course, Hancock made 16 starts last year because four of the five Mariners’ starters spent time on the IL during the season. Hancock looks like he’s finally made the adjustments he needed to to become a successful big league pitcher, and for now, he’ll have a spot in Seattle’s rotation to prove that he can stick.

Cole Sands — 87 current auctions — 21.3% roster%

The first save of the season for the Twins went to Cole Sands on Saturday. He walked one and struck out two en route to closing out a 3-1 win over the Orioles. The ninth inning picture in Minnesota was very unclear this offseason and Sands was one of the primary candidates to pick up saves alongside Taylor Rogers and Justin Topa.

Like I said in this column last week, you don’t have to go chasing saves in Ottoneu leagues (non-5×5 leagues, anyway) which means we’re free to evaluate relief pitchers on their skills rather than their role. For Sands, the 29.1% strikeout rate he ran in 2024 definitely looks like the outlier; the 21.4% mark matched what he ran in 2023 and it was a few points lower than that in his debut year in ‘22. He’s got solid command but doesn’t have the overpowering stuff you’d normally see from a high-leverage reliever. I’m not sure there’s anyone better in the Twins bullpen right now, so Sands could definitely run away with the ninth inning job early this season.

Randy Vásquez — 64 current auctions — 11.7% roster%

The big story for Randy Vásquez this spring was a huge jump in velocity. We saw the effects of that extra oomph in his first start against the Tigers on Saturday; six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. His fastball averaged 95.0 mph after sitting around 93.5 mph last year, and his sinker, curveball, sweeper, and changeup all saw similar jumps in velocity as well. The only pitch that wasn’t thrown harder was his cutter and that pitch had a completely different movement profile. It was a bit flatter with a couple of inches of added horizontal movement and Vásquez earned three whiffs on seven swings against that pitch (a 43% whiff rate). I’m also encouraged by the added velocity on his breaking balls; he earned a combined four whiffs off his curveball and sweeper.

The extra velocity is great to see, but batters will adjust to the added heat on his fastball. I’m interested to see if his breaking balls have turned into swing-and-miss weapons and if the cutter is going to be more effective now that it’s acting more like a hard slider. We could be witnessing a pretty significant step forward from Vásquez but you might want to wait a week to see if he can prove it against a tough Red Sox lineup this weekend. If you have to make a bid now, bid conservatively and be cautious in using him against Boston.

Jordan Romano — 55 current auctions — 42.0% roster%

Everything I said about Sands and high-leverage opportunities above could be copied and pasted here for Jordan Romano. At least with Romano, you have the long history of success in the ninth inning earlier in his career. Injuries derailed his career back in 2024 and he was pretty terrible in 2025 for the Phillies. His fastball velocity is actually a tick lower than it was last year at just 94.6 mph. It’s really early, but that isn’t encouraging. What is encouraging is the amount of carry he’s getting on his heater. The pitch is seeing nearly two inches of added IVB this year and a lot less armside movement. His release height is a few inches higher which seems to have given his four-seamer much purer backspin.

The Angels signed a bunch of veteran relievers this offseason — including Romano, Kirby Yates, and Drew Pomeranz — and that trio should be in the mix for saves until Ben Joyce returns from the IL. If Romano has truly turned back time and figured out how to make his fastball more effective despite his reduced velocity, he could be a solid pick up. The down tick in velocity worries me, however, and I’d want to wait to see if he’s really back to his old self before chasing him.

Luke Raley — 42 current auctions — 11.1% roster%

Luke Raley blasted home runs in three straight games to start the season, a very good sign for his health. An April oblique injury shelved Raley for two months last year and his swing was never right even after returning during the second half of the season. It’s pretty easy to diagnose what the underlying problem was. Even though his contact quality stayed relatively stable, his swing speed dropped from 75.0 mph to 73.8 mph after his injury. Through four games this year — a small sample to be sure — his swing speed is back up to 74.3 mph.

If you remember his breakout season in 2023 or his equally fantastic follow up in ‘24, you know that Raley can be a solid contributor in leagues with deep rosters like Ottoneu. The Mariners will utilize him in a pretty strict platoon so he won’t provide everyday at-bats for your fantasy team. When he’s in the lineup, he’s been productive, and it looks like his swing is back to normal after last year’s disaster.

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.

Week 2 Overview

The 2026 season is only five days old, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t already on tilt with certain players we love and have drafted. Wyatt Langford and Bo Bichette have started the season off slumping (1-14 each). Paul Skenes, Jesús Luzardo, Nathan Eovaldi, and Logan Webb have already set our ratios back, and I’m sure some would like to forget about what happened to Carlos Estévez on Saturday night (I’ll remind you: six earned runs). For every stud who has scorned us, there is a guy in the free agent pool who earned a save, twirled a gem, or hit two bombs over the weekend. Sometimes, a few of those players end up on our squads for the long haul and provide phenomenal value. Most of the time, though, these are players we’ll be throwing back into the FA pool with no roto life vest after they’ve fooled us and decimated our WHIPs and batting averages. Speaking of, where’s Kyren Paris playing these days?

Fantasy managers in the OC and on Fantrax were mostly in sync with the top targets and acquisitions of this past weekend. Let’s review the groups.

% Added is the percentage of leagues that added the player; AWB stands for average winning bid

Roster % is the current percentage of leagues rostering the player; +/-  is the percentage of leagues the player was added in the previous week

Closers

There are very few better feelings in fantasy baseball than scooping up a closer off waivers or free agency early in the season. Around this time last year, there were three big pickups – Emilio Pagán, Will Vest, and Luke Jackson. Pagán worked out splendidly, Vest earned 20+ saves. Jackson didn’t pan out, though he was racking up saves in the first month. Jordan Romano, Lucas Erceg and Cole Sands were the big three pickups of Week 2.

The closers job for the Angels was up in the air through most of the offseason. They signed veterans Romano, Kirby Yates, and Drew Pomeranz (a lefty). Robert Stephenson got hurt again, and Ben Joyce wasn’t quite ready, so it seemed like Yates was in the lead. Yates landed on the IL (knee inflammation) two days before the season. Romano took the bull by the horns coming off a strong spring (6 IP – 1 ER – 1 BB – 6 K), earned a clean on save on Thursday and pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation on Friday. Market sentiment has been polarizing on Romano. He was added in 28% of Fantrax leagues and 80% of OCs with an average winning bid of $173, but there are many managers out there who are dubious on his ability to stay healthy. They also can’t forget about last year’s ratio reckoning (8.23 ERA, 1.45 WHIP in 42.2 IP). Will he hold the job all season? Nobody knows. That’s why we play the game. Yates is expected back soon, but isn’t likely to outright steal the job from him, unless it’s the perfect storm of Yates dominating while Romano is faltering. I’d bet on Romano holding the job down for at least the next two months.

The heavy Lucas Erceg waiver/free agent activity is a case of utilizing our fantasy instincts and common sense. Estévez overperformed his underlying metrics last season and was struggling with extreme velocity dips in the spring. Had Erceg not earned a save this weekend, I’m sure he would still be a popular acquisition, considering Estévez’s struggles. Erceg was a dominant high-leverage reliever for the Athletics in 2024 (22.1% K-BB, 13.8% SwStr). He was serviceable last season with the Royals, though his strikeout rate took a massive tumble from the previous season (28.5% to 19.3%), though he wasn’t at full health. Erceg is the top righty in this bullpen and has a good chance to run away with this job. Estévez has been a solid ninth-inning guy over the last few seasons, but is clearly not at full strength and he is now being evaluated for a possible IL stint. Erceg is the priority add in daily leagues with saves.

I can almost assure you that the Case of Who is the Twins Closer is far from being solved. Cole Sands earned the save opportunity on Saturday and closed it out. He walked one, struck out two and didn’t allow a run in their 3-1 win over the Orioles. On Thursday, lefty Taylor Rogers pitched the final inning (eighth) in a non-save opportunity. Rogers has much more closing experience, but his skills have been slowly dissipating over the last couple of seasons. Sands doesn’t have dynamic stuff nor is he a prototypical closer (sub-10% swinging strike rate in 2025), but he has plus control and a low career walk rate (6.9%). Sands could run away with the job, but I believe that new manager Derek Shelton will deploy Sands or Rogers situationally, depending on whether opposing lefties or righties are coming up in the ninth. Justin Topa could earn opportunities as well, but is behind Sands and Rogers in the pecking order for now.

Starting Pitchers

Emerson Hancock snuck up on the fantasy world with an impeccable outing on Sunday night – nine punchouts and no hits allowed over six innings. Social media was raving over his new sweeper and pitch mix changes as fantasy managers ran to their waivers to acquire and to increase their free agent bid amounts. Hancock had been inconsistent across 28 starts over the last two seasons, including several ERA-damaging outings of 5+ earned runs or more. Hancock certainly looked like a different guy on Sunday night. Will he be a top 20 SP? Probably not. Could this be his breakout season? Very possible. Bryce Miller is no lock to take Hancock’s rotation spot, let alone remain healthy for the season. If Hancock is pitching well when Miller returns, it’s likely that Miller is moved to the bullpen in a multi-inning capacity. One start is far too small of a sample to base strong stands around, but I’m happy to give a talented arm in Seattle the benefit of the doubt.

Kyle Harrison is rostered in most 15-team leagues. His roster rate in OCs was raised from 77% to 99% with a two-start week on tap against the Rays (home) and Royals (road). Harrison had a 20:4 K:BB with nine earned runs allowed in 14 spring innings. He developed a blister before the season started, but is ready to go for his Brewers’ debut. If this week goes poorly, expect to see him back in the free agent pool next weekend. I will be paying close attention to the details instead of just combing the box scores. Harrison and new teammate Brandon Sproat (disaster start on Sunday) are talented pitchers in a good organization and we shouldn’t judge them too harshly on small samples. On the flip side, they’ll have to earn their keep because Logan Henderson (in Triple-A) and Quinn Priester (expected to return in late-April) will be lurking.

Padres righty Randy Vásquez was a popular pickup on Fantrax after his strong outing against the Tigers on Saturday: 6 IP  – 2 H – 0 ER – 3 BB – 8 K. Vásquez posted a 3.84 ERA (5.51 xFIP, 5.43 SIERA) in 133.2 innings last season, most of them as a starter. He hasn’t been helpful in strikeouts (14% K rate since 2024), but his velocity uptick on Saturday’s start was significant (FB up from 93.4 to 95 mph). Fantasy managers with deep rotations should consider alternatives for this week since he faces the Red Sox in Fenway. We can start him  with confidence for his Week 3 start, at home against the Rockies.

Pirates RHP Carmen Mlodzinski is a guy to monitor in public and home leagues across the world of Fantrax, RT Sports, ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo. He opened last season in the rotation, but it was a rough run — a 5.67 ERA and 1.61 WHIP over nine starts. He was converted to a relief role, and excelled in it — 2.12 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 25.5% K, 6.3% BB in 59.1 IP. He punched out eight Mets in 4.1 innings on Sunday and lines up to face the Orioles at home this weekend.

Hitters

Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter is the hottest hitter in the Majors in the first half-week with four home runs in 17 plate appearances. His roster percentage is up to 94 on Fantrax and 78% on Yahoo. He is locked into the two-hole between Steven Kwan and José Ramírez for the foreseeable future.

Joey Wiemer has appeared in only 48 games since his 2023 rookie season with the Brewers when he hit 13 homers with 11 steals and a .204 average in 410 plate appearances. He earned a job in the Nationals outfield as a short side platoon bat. Wiemer has yet to record an out – six hits and two walks in eight plate appearances. Wiemer likely won’t start against righties often, though he earned one on Monday. Nevertheless, he feels like a flavor of the week we shouldn’t be prioritizing unless it’s a deep 18-teamer or NL-Only league.

Some hot pickups with potential staying power in 12-team leagues and higher are Nasim Nuñez (2B/WAS), Jordan Walker (OF/STL), Dominic Canzone (OF/SEA), and Owen Caissie (OF/MIA). Nuñez popped as a 25+ stolen base guy in projection models this season. Walker worked hard this offseason at Driveline to retool his approach at the plate, had a mediocre spring training, but is off to a strong start through his first three games – .400/.500/.900 with six runs scored and a 100.4 mph average exit velocity (albeit, a tiny sample). Canzone and Caissie are strong side platoon bats for their respective teams. Canzone smashed two dingers in Seattle’s first game. Caissie is 5-10 with a homer and a 25% barrel rate through his first three games. Daily leaguers can optimize matchups this week, but folks in weekly or half-weekly leagues should consider benching them. The Marlins are slated to face 2-of-6 southpaws and the Mariners 3-of-6, which projects their max games played this week at four (Caissie) and three (Canzone). Our shallower leagues should have a better outfielder to start this week.

Drop of the Week

Sadly, it’s Andrew Vaughn of the Brewers. He suffered a hamate fracture in his left hand is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Vaughn is worth stashing on your IL, or on the bench of 15-team leagues with a bench of eight or more. Otherwise, feel free to cut him and keep abreast of his return to pick him up in about a month or so.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now, while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. I start players being added at CBS who started the week on less than 40% of rosters.

The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference, grouped by hitters, starters, and relievers.

Read the rest of this entry »