Ottoneu Hot Right Now: March 25, 2026

Hot Right Now (HRN) is a weekly 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. (I won’t include this section until we’re a few weeks into the regular season.)

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

Paul Sewald — 35 current auctions — 42.0% roster%

Speculating for saves isn’t a necessary evil in Ottoneu leagues (unless you’re playing 5×5 on Ottoneu), but it certainly helps to have high leverage relievers for the bonus points you get from holds and saves earned. That’s the motivation for all these auctions for Paul Sewald. He hasn’t been officially named the closer for the Diamondbacks, but he had the best spring training of all the potential options and has the most experience in the role.

Of course, Sewald hasn’t been good since 2023 after battling a bunch of injuries over the last two years. His fastball velocity was up to 91.3 mph this spring, closer to where it was in 2024 but still half a tick below where it was during his peak as the Mariners closer. More concerning is the loss of carry on his heater; it averaged 11.3 IVB during spring training, more than two inches less than what he was generating on the pitch a few years ago. The elite ride combined with his low arm slot made that pitch a monster, but if the ride isn’t there any more, I’m afraid his four-seamer is going to be a lot more hittable.

I understand wanting to get out in front of the wave if Sewald ends up in the ninth inning role in Arizona, but I’d recommend waiting to see if he’s actually going to pitch well enough to earn that spot.

Gregory Soto — 33 current auctions — 36.7% roster%

Here’s another reliever who could be in the mix for saves, this time in Pittsburgh. Dennis Santana finished last year in the ninth inning role, but manager Don Kelly mentioned that he could use Santana in leverage opportunities earlier in the game because Soto has some history closing out games in the ninth. However this situation shakes itself out, Soto will be pitching in high leverage spots, whether they’re in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. As for his talent level, he’s been pretty solid over the last six years. His walk rate can get a little high at times, but he did well to get his command under control last year. If I had to pick one reliever to chase after right now, I’d pick Soto over Sewald based on talent alone.

Didier Fuentes — 32 current auctions — 83.7% roster%

This is what an absolutely immaculate spring training will result in. Didier Fuentes pitched nine scoreless, hitless innings this spring while striking out 17 and walking no one. That’s very impressive, even if it was against lower caliber competition. A rash of injuries to the Braves pitching staff has given Fuentes a spot on the Opening Day roster, which he absolutely earned with his performance in the Grapefruit League.

Just to pump the brakes a little, the Braves aren’t giving Fuentes a spot in their rotation to start the season. He’ll be working out of the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever for the first few weeks of the season. As soon as the rotation gets a little healthier, the expectation is that he’ll be shuttled back to Triple-A to resume building up his workload as a starter. If you’re bidding on him and expecting him to provide a ton of value early in the season, I’m afraid you’re going to walk away pretty disappointed. Thankfully, Ottoneu’s deep rosters mean you can stash Fuentes on your bench as soon as Atlanta shuffles him back to the minor leagues because he’s a legitimately good pitching prospect on a meteoric trajectory.

Justin Wrobleski — 27 current auctions — 48.4% roster%

There was some speculation that Justin Wrobleski would be able to claim a spot in the Dodgers rotation with Blake Snell injured and Roki Sasaki struggling this spring. That didn’t come to pass and Wrobleski will be used out of the bullpen to piggyback Shohei Ohtani’s starts as the superstar builds up his workload. While that isn’t an ideal outcome, Wrobleski actually thrived in this very role last year, posting a 2.93 FIP and a 4.47 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 66.2 innings across 22 relief appearances and two starts. The top line results were a little out of whack from his pristine peripherals — a 4.32 ERA isn’t as useful — but Ottoneu managers mostly care about that strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Hunter Barco — 24 current auctions — 49.3% roster%

I’m really intrigued by Hunter Barco. He added three new pitches to his arsenal this spring, a sweeper, a changeup, and a sinker. As a left-handed pitcher with a low arm slot, all three of those pitches push his pitch arsenal towards a more horizontal emphasis. The sweeper should help him keep left-handed batters at bay, while the changeup gives him a second offspeed pitch to pair with his already deadly splitter to attack right-handers.

He’s on the Opening Day roster, but the Pirates are planning on using him as a long reliever to start the season. That’s not an ideal role for a young pitcher who had just tinkered with his pitch mix, but I’m willing to bet that he’ll be pushing for a spot in the rotation soon. One note of caution: Pittsburgh has treated its young pitching prospects with extreme care, just look at how Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft bounced between the bullpen and rotation last summer. Barco could be in for the same kind of treatment this year, which makes managing him on your fantasy roster a little more challenging.