Ottoneu Drip: Finding Under-rostered Pitchers: September 12, 2024

With just two and half weeks left in the regular season, we’re entering crunch time for teams still vying for a fantasy baseball championship. Hitting your innings caps in Ottoneu leagues is one of the most important ways you can maximize your roster to its fullest extent. Here are four starters who are rostered in under 60% of all Ottoneu leagues who could be useful pickups for the final stretch of the season. I’ve also tried to guess at these pitches potential opponents through the end of the season, provided their teams stay on schedule and no injuries occur. With so few days left to affect your position in the standings, every start can make a difference.

Under-rostered Starters, Last 3 Starts
Player Team IP FIP K-BB% Pts/IP Roster% Projected Opponents
Aaron Civale MIL 17.1 3.35 19.7% 5.63 55.5% @ARI, ARI, @PIT
Matthew Boyd CLE 16.1 1.89 31.8% 6.66 57.7% MIN, @STL, HOU
Brant Hurter DET 15.1 2.20 14.8% 5.98 14.7% BAL, @KCR, TBR
Jakob Junis CIN 12.2 2.23 18.6% 7.74 2.5% @STL, ATL, @CLE

The last time I ran this column, I wrote up Frankie Montas since he had made some improvements to his repertoire since joining the Brewers at the deadline. This time around, I’ll feature the other starter Milwaukee acquired midseason, Aaron Civale. He didn’t have a great start to his stint with the Brew Crew, but he’s been a lot better since August with a 3.58 ERA and a 4.13 FIP over his last seven starts. The key to his turnaround has been the reintroduction of a slider to his pitch mix. That gives him a breaking ball that sits between his cutter and his sweeper, giving batters an even harder time picking up any one of those three pitches. He’s got a couple of tough starts against the Diamondbacks in the near future, but that start in Pittsburgh the final week of the season looks really nice.

I also wrote up Matthew Boyd in this column a few weeks ago and he’s turned in three excellent starts since then. The most encouraging thing is that he’s finally getting whiffs with his breaking balls which has helped him strike out nearly 35% of the batters he’s faced during his last three starts. He’s also got two pretty decent matchups on his schedule before a bit of a risky play against the Astros to finish the season.

Brant Hurter is a little bit of an unorthodox option in Ottoneu. He’s made just one traditional start during his time in the big leagues and has acted as the bulk pitcher behind an opener in his other six appearances. In Ottoneu, you need to slot your pitchers in the role they’re used by their teams which means you need to pay attention to whether or not Detroit is using an opener for Hurter or not. As for Hurter himself, he’s been pretty effective in his bulk role. He throws from a low, three-quarters slot which imparts a ton of horizontal movement to his sinker and sweeper. He also recently developed a changeup which has given him a weapon to use against right-handed batters. If he stays on schedule, he’s got two risky matchups against the Orioles and Royals before an easier outing against the Rays.

Here’s another stretch of a recommendation. Jakob Junis was picked up by the Reds in the Frankie Montas trade as a throw in — Joey Wiemer was the real target in that deal — and has mostly pitched in short stints out of the bullpen this year. Injuries in Cincinnati’s starting rotation have forced them to use him in longer stints recently. He completed five innings in his last start against the Mets and has only allowed a single run in his previous three outings. He’s enjoyed some success in the past thanks to his elite slider, but a litany of injuries have sapped him of much of his effectiveness. Two of his final outings will come away from Great American Ballpark, which should be a great benefit to him. You can probably treat him as a dart throw, but if you’re really desperate for innings, he’s an option that won’t cost much.





Jake Mailhot is a contributor to FanGraphs. A long-suffering Mariners fan, he also writes about them for Lookout Landing. Follow him on Twitter @jakemailhot.

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