Ottoneu Hot Right Now: August 28, 2025
The 2025 version of Hot Right Now will typically include three sections:
- Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
- Roster Adds: Analysis of players with high add% changes.
- Hot Performers: Players with a high P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.
The FanGraphs 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
Parker Messick – 60 current auctions
Messick is a 24-year-old lefty with a good changeup. Everybody! To the waiver! It’s the year of the soft-tossing lefty! Ok, cool your jets. Messick will likely take time to develop as a big-leaguer. His 2025 AAA BB% still screams “Young Pitcher!” at 10.3%. But, so does his 29.1% strikeout rate (K-BB% 18.8%). His changeup is his best pitch by Stuff+ and the only pitch above average, so it’s hard to tell where all that strikeout power comes from. If it’s all in the changeup (25.6% SwStr%), then don’t expect that to hold up once hitters start to adjust. They may also begin picking up on his four-seamer, which has averaged 93 MPH in his two starts. Yet, walks haven’t been an issue in his first two big-league starts. He’s been great. In 13.2 IP, he’s only walked one batter, and that is why it’s so hard to assess the fantasy value of Messick right now. Would you pay $1 of fake money to find out?
Ian Seymour – 42 current auctions
Seymour is yet another young lefty who has been given starts at the end of the season. Unlike Messick, he collected 23.1 IP in relief before getting a chance to start. As a reliever, he produced an 18.6% K-BB% compared to the 2025 RP league average of 13.3%. He’s only recorded one start, but in it he struck out eight, walked only one, and gave up only one hit. Much of his success, like Messick’s (above), can be attributed to his changeup. Its 16.0% swinging strike rate has been above average when compared to pitchers who have thrown at least 150 of them this season. With a small sample, Seymour’s fastball is performing better than you might expect, holding an 11.9% swinging strike rate. The pitch has a below-average Stuff+, Location+, and averages 92 MPH:
He makes up for it with above-average Location+ grades on his slider and changeup, so his four-seam usage and location should be something to watch moving forward.
Braxton Ashcraft – 39 current auctions
The 25-year-old righty has moved from reliever to starter in his last three outings with the Pirates, and he’s done well. Through those 13.1 IP, he’s averaged 33 points and has been a 7.6 P/IP starter. Ashcraft has a few things going for him. First, he throws his slider often, and its 18.2% swinging strike rate is above average among pitchers who have thrown at least 200 of them. Second, his curveball is nearing elite (134) by Stuff+ standards, and its wOBA on the season is only .206. Lastly, he’s striking both lefties and righties out above 20%.
On the challenges Ashcraft will face when trying to become fantasy relevant, he doesn’t seem to have a good four-seam fastball. Its Stuff+ grade is below average. You could argue that it doesn’t matter, given that his sinker is the better offering. But, he’s throwing the four-seam 31% of the time and it’s being hit for a .320 wOBA. Finally, for those in keeper leagues, there may not be room for him in the rotation long-term. Bubba Chandler’s time in the bullpen won’t last forever, and Jared Jones will eventually come back from his elbow injury. He seems worth adding at this point in the season in order to latch on to a developing pitcher showing early success.
Roster Adds
Jhostynxon Garcia – Add% Change (7 Days) – 31.2%
Nicknamed “The Password”, Garcia has taken on a platoon bench role with the injury of Wilyer Abreu. He’s only recorded six big-league plate appearances, but in 433 minor league PAs (AA and AAA), he slashed .289/.363/.512 while hitting 20 home runs. There’s not a tremendous opportunity for playing time in 2025 or, from what we can see beyond, but he’s worth putting on a watch list.
Jarlin Susana – Add% Change (7 Days) – 23.9%
Go to Susana’s player page and you’ll see this headline:
Rotowire: Susana struck out 13 over five innings for Double-A Harrisburg on Tuesday, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. (8/20/2025)
That will grab your attention. He was listed as the number three prospect in the Nats system by Eric Longenhagen this past July:
After a walk-prone 2023 (40 free passes in 63 innings) and a rough start to his 2024, Susana appeared to turn a corner in June. He had five dominant starts in a row, was promoted to High-A Wilmington, and then only had two starts the rest of the year in which he walked more than two batters. Susana ended up working 103.2 innings (40 more than the prior season), struck out 35.4% of his opponents, and generated groundballs at a whopping 60% clip…Just when it seemed like Susana had proven that he had the stamina and durability of a big league starter, he suffered a Grade 1 UCL sprain in early May. It’s an injury that was initially going to be treated with rest and rehab, then reassessment. As of this update, it has been about eight weeks since he was shelved and a team source tells me Susana has progressed to bullpen sessions. The injury slid Susana to the back of the 55 FV tier, but his ceiling is still the same. This is a freaky 6-foot-6 Leviathan on track to gobble up NL East hitters in 2027.
What more can I write? He’s a great future play in Ottoneu leagues, but he is yet to make his MLB debut.
Hot Performers
Stats reflect the last 14 days for both hitters and pitchers. Players selected are usually rostered at lower levels.
Jakob Marsee – 8.3 P/G
The 24-year-old Marlins outfielder has played in 26 games this season and has impressive overall numbers, including a 95.4% zone contact rate and a 50.7% HardHit%. He was the subject of another incredibly titled Michael Baumann article recently.
Nick Kurtz – 7.9 P/G
The Athletics rookie is rebounding from a small mid-August slump in which his K% increased and his ISO took a tumble. He’s working back in the right direction and currently has a three-game hit streak.
Aaron Ashby – 8.0 P/IP
Is this real life? I’m at a loss on what to write here. Ashby’s stuff is exploding:
Ashby’s slider, changeup, curveball, and sinker all have above-average swinging strike marks in 2025. This has mostly come in relief, and though that may take the shock away, Ashby is doing enough right to begin working as an opener for the Brewers. He’s holding an average salary of $2 and is rostered in less than 50% of Ottoneu leagues.
Martín Pérez – 7.2 P/IP
The only man wearing a hoodie in his player page profile pic, Martín Pérez is back from injury and pitching for the White Sox. Do two good outings of limiting hits, walks, and home runs make you want to add him before he takes on the Yankees? Don’t answer that. We’ll pass it off to our comms team.