Ottoneu Hot Right Now: July 23, 2025

The 2025 version of Hot Right Now will typically include three sections:

1. Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
2. Roster Adds: Analysis of players with high add% changes.
3. 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

Troy Melton – 70 current auctions

Melton was acquired by the Tigers in round four of the 2022 draft. He’s being called up to make his major league debut. Through 75.1 IP in the minors this season, Melton holds a 32.4% K%, a 6.4% BB%, a 1.23 WHIP, and a 2.99 ERA. So, it seems that he’s figured out the minor leagues. More than half of those innings were accumulated in AAA. Here’s a prospect blurb from Eric Longenhagen:

Melton is a strapping 6-foot-4, he throws strikes, and he has two plus pitches and several late-bloomer traits….He was homer-prone in 2024 (20% HR/FB rate), which is a big part of why he carried an elevated ERA, but that’s an unsustainably high rate. Melton was also shut down with a shoulder impingement at the very end of the 2024 season, but he was hitting 98 in a bullpen just before Top 100 publication and seems fine. He’s on pace to…compete for a more permanent spot in the middle of Detroit’s stacked rotation in 2026.

That was written in March of this season, then he was categorized as a “Low-Variance No. 4 Starter Type with Injury Risk” in a post-spring training update. That still places Longenhagen’s timetable right on track. Sneaking him onto your roster now at $1 before his debut would be a great strategy.

David Robertson – 61 current auctions

FanGraphs writer Davy Andrews detailed Robertson’s signing here, with the most fantasy-relevant portion being:

Presumably, he kept his arm warm too, because he threw in front of scouts on Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island (the Renaissance City, fittingly enough), and he impressed a bunch of them. In fact, he was so impressive, that his signing marks our first We Tried of the deadline season. After Robertson showed that he was still the guy he’d been in September, Rosenthal reported that the teams interested included the Mets and Yankees, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post mentioned the Red Sox, Tigers, and “many others.”

If he’s good enough to impress the scouts and get a major league contract, he’s probably a good pick-up for $1 in Ottoneu leagues. Just keep in mind that he’s 40 years old and last threw in a major league game in September of 2024.

Ethan Holliday- 41 current auctions

It’s that time of the year, and part of what makes Ottoneu so unique. Managers are looking to sneak recent draft picks onto their rosters to hold for the future. Ethan Holliday, brother of Jackson Holliday and son of Matt Holliday, was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. It’s up to you whether you want to roster a player who does not yet even have a FanGraphs player page.

Roster Adds

Janson Junk – Add% Change (7 Days) – 20.5%

Junk made the “Hot Performers” section of my end-of-June Hot Right Now. That article was posted in the morning of June 26th, and that night, Junk gave up five earned runs, one on a home run, and only struck out one batter. That’s a poor performance by any mark. Still, he didn’t walk anyone. In his last five starts (27.2 IP), Junk has only given up one home run. He has the lowest HR/9 (0.16) of all pitchers with at least 50 IP. That measure compares with all pitchers, as not all of Junk’s innings have come as a starter.

For now, Junk seems to be the Marlins’ fifth starter, and with the severity of injuries to Braxton Garrett, Max Meyer, and Ryan Weathers keeping them on the IL long-term, that doesn’t seem like it will be changing any time soon. The real question is, has he been lucky, or does he have some sort of secret homer diminishing ability we’ve never seen before? I’d bank on regression coming. While it does help tremendously when you’re not walking batters, and Junk’s BB/9 is also the lowest amongst pitchers with at least 50 IP, his GB% is 38.6% compared to the league average of 41.9%, and he doesn’t even throw a sinker! That means he’s kept the ball in the yard even with a higher rate of line drives and fly balls. I’m simply not willing to believe that this will continue.

Eric Lauer 라우어 라우어 – Add% Change (7 Days) – 14.4%

Lauer is not a “stuff” guy. The only pitch he has above average by Stuff+ is his cutter. But he does locate well. Two of his five pitches (FC, CU) have above-average Location+ scores, while his four-seamer is just around average. Lauer gets more out of his stuff. That’s a real-life baseball perspective, but from an Ottoneu points league perspective, Lauer is doing a few things right.

First, he’s striking batters out at a 27.1% clip, which would be a career best if the season ended today. It’s actually a top 20 mark among pitchers with at least 60 IP. Furthermore, if the season ended today, his BB% of 6.7% would also be a career best. Somehow, he’s succeeded with a 91.8 MPH four-seamer, and it’s been one of his best pitches by SwStr% in 2025. Still, it’s middle-of-the-pack by that measure amongst its peers. Hitters simply aren’t doing damage on the pitch. It’s .253 wOBA is 19th best among pitchers who have thrown a four-seamer at least 300 times. Guess who’s right above him at number 18? Paul Skenes. His four-seamer also has a .253 wOBA, but apparently he gets the number 18 spot because he’s Paul Skenes.

Lauer’s ability to backdoor a curveball to an opposite-handed hitter is a thing of beauty. See for yourself. When throwing his curveball to opposite-handed batters, Lauer has a .275 wOBA. Overall, he’s landing his curveball over 27% of the time for a called strike. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 curveballs in 2025, the called strike rate is around 18%. Having a pitch that you can land for called strikes is an asset. After that, it needs to be backed up with something that misses bats. Lauer doesn’t necessarily have one of those, but his four-seamer/cutter combination has performed fairly well.

Will his top 20 K% continue to hold? I wouldn’t bet on it as his sample size is still relatively small. But he has kept hitters off balance with good locations, control, and pitch-mix. He’s limited walks and home runs and has pitched like an ace in his 60 IP this season. To prove that outlandish statement, here are the pitchers who have matched Lauer’s innings, have a K% greater than or equal to 25%, a BB% less than 7%, and a HR/9 less than or equal to one:

Hot Performers

Stats reflect the games played through July 18th, after the All-Star break for both hitters and pitchers. Players selected are usually rostered at lower levels.

Nick Kurtz – 17.6 P/G

Since his return from the break, Kurtz has hit eight extra-base hits! Even more impressive, he hit five doubles in three games. That’s unreal. He is on a bender that leaves most people missing their car keys and a text message backlog six days deep. Beware, his K% on the season is 32.0%.

Salvador Perez – 14.4 P/G

Perez has hit four home runs since returning from the All-Star break. He’s been hot all July, slashing .359/.397/.828. That’s a big rebound from his May .255/.305/.459. If he was dropped, pick him up now!

Quinn Priester –  9.4 P/IP

In this small sample, games played since the All-Star break, we’re only analyzing one start. But Priester’s 79 game score in his latest outing is categorized as Great, bordering on Excellent. He allowed only three hits, gave up no walks, no runs, and struck out 10. Priester struggled with command early in the season and has now brought his BB% down from 8.5% in May to 5.9% in July. His K% has also worked in the right direction as he’s increased to 27.9% in the month of July, up from 14.6% in May, and 26.6% in June.

Kyle Leahy –  8.6 P/IP

Um…who? Leahy is a Cardinals reliever with 12 holds on the year, a 2.95 ERA, and a 12.9% K-BB%. That may not be all that exciting, but if Ryan Helsley gets dealt at the trade deadline, Leahy could climb the ladder into more high-leverage roles. Don’t forget Ottoneu counts holds, so Leahy may help gather those very necessary points for teams in the race.