Ottoneu Hot Right Now: September 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

Ethan Salas — 71 current auctions — 66.6% roster%

Ethan Salas has been on a roller coaster ride the past few years but he’s finally made it to the major leagues. The Padres aggressively promoted him up through their farm system in his debut season as a professional back in 2023 and he spent the next year underperforming and dealt with injuries last year. Finally back on solid ground this season, he’s flashed the talent that earned him very high spots on so many top 100 prospect lists. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he’s posted a .296/.374/.448 slash line (a 115 wRC+) with 10 home runs and excellent defense behind the plate. That’s a huge jump over the identical 76 wRC+’s he posted in 2024 and ‘25.

As San Diego battles for an NL Wild Card spot, they opted to once again aggressively promote Salas, this time to the big league club once rosters expanded on September 1. The young catcher had just 24 games and just a hair over 100 plate appearances in Triple-A before the promotion, but the Friars are hoping he can carry his hot hitting up to the highest level. He’ll have to compete for playing time with Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano. If he hits the ground running, I’d expect the team to give him plenty of opportunities to play. If he struggles … well, that’s why the team has two other catchers on the active roster.

Brett Bateman — 35 current auctions — 25.0% roster%

After coming over from the Cubs in the Kevin Gausman trade, Brett Bateman has assumed full-time duties in center field for the Blue Jays, taking over from the departed Daulton Varsho. He was ranked 30th on Chicago’s preseason top prospect list with a 35+ FV grade. He’s a patient hitter who has exceptional bat-to-ball skills and very little power to speak of. So far, the approach has worked in the big leagues; he’s slashing .317/.367/.390 (a 116 wRC+) across his first 20 games. His BABIP is all the way up at .419, however, and his walk rate isn’t nearly as high as it was in the minors. That’s not all that surprising; for a guy with no power, big league pitchers are much more apt to challenge him in the zone.

Without a double-digit walk rate buoying his fantasy production, there just isn’t much to get excited about with Bateman. If you’re really desperate for an outfielder, you could try and ride his batted ball luck until it runs out, but I’m not rushing to add him to any of my teams right now.

Drew Sommers — 33 current auctions — XX% roster%

Drew Sommers has quietly been earning more and more high-leverage work in the Tigers bullpen since getting called up from Triple-A at the end of May. Since the All-Star break, he’s earned six of his 10 holds on the year and has allowed just six runs in 19 innings across 16 appearances. His strikeout rate during this stretch is all the way up at 42.5%!

The reason why he’s earning so many strikeouts is because his four-seam fastball is the most unhittable heater in baseball. The whiff rate on his fastball is over 50% — unheard of for a four-seam — and that’s the highest whiff rate for that pitch type in baseball. He throws from a low arm slot with a ton of extension which explains a lot of the deception that’s driving such a high whiff rate. The rest of his repertoire isn’t as developed, but the heater is such a dominant weapon, he’s been able to find success anyway.

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

Mickey Gasper — 11.7 FGPts/G (last 14 days) — 7.3% roster%

Over the last two weeks since being recalled from Triple-A on August 17, Mickey Gasper has hit all seven of his home runs on the season. He’s batting over .400 during this stretch and has only struck out in 4.8% of his plate appearances while crushing every batted ball he puts in play. He’s simply on an insane heater right now.

Gasper had essentially claimed the designated hitter role for the Red Sox with his hot hitting, but with Willson Contreras on the IL with a minor hamstring strain, he’ll get plenty of playing time at first base. Because he’s eligible at catcher, his everyday playing time is even more valuable in fantasy baseball. Of the two catchers listed in this article, I’d much rather go out and add Gasper right now — and I’ve started auctions for him in four of my leagues already.

Hayden Wesneski — 6.9 FGPts/IP (last 14 days) — 44.8% roster%

Over his last two starts, Hayden Wesneski has allowed a single run and just four hits in 10 innings while striking out 10. He’s accumulated 5.2 FGPts/IP across five starts in August and looks like he’s put his elbow injury well behind him.

As a prospect in Chicago’s organization, his huge sweeper stood out as his best pitch but he struggled with a pretty mediocre fastball. Houston has had him emphasize his sinker and cutter at the expense of his four-seamer and that’s been a useful trade-off so far. His command is still a little shaky — not surprising for a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery — but the effectiveness of the sweeper is still intact and he’s even made strides with his changeup to deepen his repertoire even further. His strikeout-to-walk ratio isn’t great at just 2.3, but he’s managing contact well and he’s earning a ton of swings and misses, indicating some untapped strikeout upside.

He’s definitely worth a look if you’re struggling to fill your innings cap as the season winds down or need a spot starter in your head-to-head playoff matchups.