Ottoneu Hot Right Now: June 2, 2026

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.

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

Jacob Gonzalez — 60 current auctions — 33.2% roster%

Jacob Gonzalez was recently promoted to the White Sox big league roster after Munetaka Murakami hit the IL with a hamstring strain. The former first-round pick was leading all of Triple-A with 19 home runs and had posted a 168 wRC+ in 52 games in the minors this year. That’s quite a turn around for him; across his first three seasons in the minor leagues, he had compiled a disappointing 89 wRC+ with just 17 total home runs.

Ranked 35th on the organization’s prospect list, Gonzalez struggles to start his career led to a meager 35+ FV grade. This power spike might indicate a fundamental shift in his approach, though it’s important to remember that we’re talking about less than 300 plate appearances in one the most hitter-friendly venues in Triple-A. Gonzalez can capably play all four infield positions and it’s likely he’ll get playing time across the diamond as the White Sox figure out how to cover for Murakami’s absence. I’d recommend waiting to see if his power translates to the big leagues before running out and picking him up.

Hot Performers
Players with a high P/G or P/IP over the last 14 days rostered in 80% of leagues or less.

Nathaniel Lowe — 8.7 FGPts/G (last 14 days) — 27.4% roster%

I wrote up Nathaniel Lowe in this column at the start of May, noting that he had added two ticks to his average bat speed this year. A month later and he’s still running the best contact quality of his career. Over the last two weeks, he’s collected nine hits and three home runs in eight games (a 192 wRC+). The issue with Lowe has been playing time; he’s been pretty heavily platooned, though he has a pretty strong grip on that role with all the injuries to Cincinnati’s lineup. If you can manage a part-time first baseman on your roster, Lowe could be worth a look.

Spencer Horwitz — 7.7 FGPts/G (last 14 days) — 53.4% roster%

Spencer Horwitz was the subject of one of my Bold Predictions this spring — I predicted he’d finish as a top-12 first baseman. Right now, he’s ranked 11th at the position according to the Auction Calculator. So far, so good. Over the last two weeks, he’s posted a .333/.407/.622 slash line (a 180 wRC+) with four home runs. One of the more encouraging pieces of this hot streak is that he’s managed to play his way out of a platoon role; he stayed in the starting lineup the last two times the Pirates faced a left-handed starter.

Horwitz doesn’t have eye popping contact quality metrics, but he more than makes up for it with an excellent approach at the plate. This year, he’s managed to cut his strikeout rate down to 11.5% while pushing his walk rate up to 13.9%. He’s making more contact than ever before and is patient enough to take a free pass if he doesn’t get a good pitch to hit. That kind of approach gives him a really high floor and this hot streak shows what his ceiling can look like when his batted balls are falling in for hits. Between the two hot hitting first basemen mentioned in this piece, I’d be far more interested in picking up Horwitz.

Luis Castillo — 7.0 FGPts/IP (last 14 days) — 63.3% roster%

Luis Castillo is in a weird position right now. He really struggled to begin the year, putting up a 6.34 ERA and a 4.56 FIP across his first nine starts. Then, to accommodate Bryce Miller’s return from injury, the Mariners opted to place Miller and Castillo into a hybrid piggyback role. From a team perspective, the strategy has worked wonderfully: the duo has combined to throw 27 innings with a 1.67 ERA, a 2.44 FIP, and a 3.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio over their last three turns in the rotation.

Individually, things get a bit more complicated for fantasy players who are rostering Castillo or Miller. To his credit, Castillo has performed a lot better in this role where he isn’t being asked to cover as many innings or work through a lineup a third time. He’s posted a 2.38 ERA and a 2.64 FIP with 7.0 FGPts/IP during this stretch and his average fastball velocity has ticked up slightly. The issue that has been the most difficult to manage has been Castillo’s usage and the particular slot he can fit into in your Ottoneu lineup; he has been the official starter in one of the three games Seattle has used this piggyback strategy. As long as you’re paying attention to which of Castillo or Miller is listed as the official starter, you shouldn’t have a problem ensuring they’re in the right spot in your lineup.

Ready for things to get even more complicated? The Mariners are moving away from the piggyback strategy for the next few turns in the rotation because they’re facing a stretch of 13 games in 14 days. Instead, they’ll reslot Castillo and Miller into a six-man rotation. For fantasy players, there’s a risk that Castillo will backslide from his recent success in longer outings, though I suppose there’s a chance he’ll retain the newfound effectiveness with the extra rest a six-man rotation affords. With that added uncertainty, I could understand wanting to wait and see how Castillo responds to another change in role.