Ottoneu Cold Right Now: Apr 17, 2025

Cold Right Now (CRN) is a weekly Ottoneu feature focused on players being dropped or who should be dropped in Ottoneu leagues. In this feature we will break down players into three sections:

1. Roster Cuts: Analysis of players who have been cut in a high percentage of leagues.
2. Recent Injuries: A look at the implications of recent injuries (not all, just some high-profile ones).
3. Cold Performers: Players with a low P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.

This article will typically run once per week and will help fantasy managers keep track of players that need to be given extra attention to improve rosters.

Roster Cuts

Brett Baty, Add% Change (7 days): -20.2%

Baty’s .353/.441/.745 Spring Training slash line has not carried through to the regular season, which sits at .175/.175/.250. He has not walked at all, and his K% is 40.0%. Baty is struggling tremendously with his plate discipline and approach:

Z-Contact%: 80.4% vs. 85.5% league average

Zone%: 56.6% vs. 51.5% league average

O-Swing%: 33.3% vs. 28.4% league average

Simply put, Baty is missing pitches when they are in the zone, getting plenty of them, and chasing pitches out of the zone. Baty is now down to 1.7 P/G, and he only has one plate appearance against left-handed pitching. Most of his games have been played at the 2B position, but with Luisangel Acuña performing much better (4.8 P/G) offensively, Baty may not stay up in the big leagues much longer. Mark Vientos is also struggling (2.5 P/G), and Baty can still field the 3B position, but Vientos has a strong hold on it, even with his slow start.

Edwin Uceta, Add% Change (7 Days): -20.2%

In seven games, Uceta’s ERA is 7.50 (7.34 xERA) and his walk rate has increased to 10.7%, double where it finished the 2024 season. He’s struggling with control, and it’s possible that the 7.1 innings he accumulated in Spring Training were not enough. His most utilized pitch has been his changeup, and he has not been able to land it for strikes consistently. His cutter is also getting hit for a .998 wOBA. RosterResource still has him listed as the next-in-line to Pete Fairbanks for the closer role, so this early of a drop on a pitcher who could earn holds and may need a little more time to get built up seems impulsive.

Sean Burke, Add% Change (7 Days): -19.0%

Burke threw 19.0 IP last season for the White Sox, a mix of innings between starts and relief, and he maintained a 1.00 WHIP and a 1.42 ERA. Ottoneu managers may have picked him up towards the end of the season and held on, considering his K-BB% of 19.7% was so great. But in 2025, his WHIP (1.50) and ERA (7.56) have swelled, and he does not have a single pitch that has been hit for less than a .300 wOBA. He is yet to establish his four-seam fastball, which produced an above-average swinging strike rate of 12.0% in his 2024 short stint. This season, the pitch is only fetching an 8.3% SwStr%. Stuff+ considers it an above-average pitch, but does not do the same for any of his secondaries. The pitch is good enough to work in the zone, but Burke’s four-seam Zone% is below average in the early season. If Burke can regain his fastball command, continue to land his curveball for called strikes, and increase his slider SwStr%, those who were quick to drop him will be sorry. But, that’s a lot of “ifs”.

Injuries

Kris Bryant, Add% Change (7 days): -22.6%

The latest from Rotowire:

Rockies manager Bud Black said Monday that he expects Bryant (back) to return when first eligible April 23, Andres Soto of MLB.com reports. (4/16/2025)

But “lumbar degenerative disc disease” seems like a rough thing to cope with, and it would explain a lot of the IL time Bryant has experienced in the last few years.

Jose Miranda, Add% Change (7 days): -14.4%

Miranda was optioned to AAA St. Paul on 4/13 and was then placed on the 7-day IL on 4/15. From his RotoWire page:

According to Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune, Miranda suffered the injury on St. Paul’s off day Monday while he was shopping and grabbing for a case of water.

It happens to the best of us, I guess. Miranda has hit one home run so far this season, but beyond that, is slashing only .167/.167/.250 and striking out at a 36.1% rate. He’ll need time to recover and regain his batting eye in St. Paul.

 

Cold Performers

Cold performers are marked by measuring low P/G or P/IP in the last 14 days.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, -1.0 P/G

CES is only slashing .158/.183/.298 but expected stats think he should be hitting .203 and slugging .372. His low .163 BABIP has something to do with it, but so does a very low 1.7% BB%. He’s either putting the ball in play and getting no luck, or he’s striking out (21.7% K%). He’s still hitting the ball hard (42.2%), and his zone contact is an excellent 91.2%. Just let it play out.

Alec Bohm, -0.9 P/G

Bohm has been a little unlucky with a .214 BABIP and expected stats that are significantly higher than his actuals. Something has to give. His SLG sits at .194 while his xSLG sits at .375. It’s not all bad luck, however. He’s striking out 21.9% of the time compared to a career 18.0%, and he’s walking way less in 2025 with a 1.4% compared to a career 6.4%.

Ryan Pepiot, 0.0 P/IP

Pepiot’s four-seam fastball has been getting hit for a .522 wOBA. His slider is even worse at .605. While his changeup SwStr% is a tremendous 26.8%, without a good-performing fastball Pepiot will struggle to maintain that mark. Oddly, the four-seamer’s Zone% is above average while its walk rate is a high 16.7%. This likely means that Pepiot is trying to establish fastballs in the zone early while missing in three-ball counts. He’s been hurting points league players and should probably be benched until he makes a few tweaks.

Tanner Houck, 0.3 P/IP

April 14th, 2025, will forever be a day that haunts fantasy managers rostering Tanner Houck. He gave up 10 hits and two home runs against the Rays and earned -37 points in just 2.1 IP. Yet, the start before that, he earned 34 points against Toronto thanks to 6.2 IP. But he only struck out two. Houck’s velocity has been increasing, but his command has been lost.