Was a three-year letterwinner at Concordia Lutheran H.S. located in Tomball in the Greater Houston area... went 18-6 with 17 saves and a 2.61 ERA in his prep career...was named to the Texas Association of Parochial & Private Schools 5A All-State First Team as a senior in 2014...Was undrafted out of high school and went on to play collegiately at nearby Rice...went 9-2 with a 2.26 ERA in 33 relief appearances as a sophomore in 2016, earning All-Conference USA First Team honors...was selected as the MVP of the 2017 Conference USA Tournament, tossing nine scoreless innings and holding opponents to a .125 average in three appearances as Rice secured its 23rd consecutive trip to a NCAA Regional...ended his Rice career tied for fourth in the program's history with 17 saves...While at Rice, he was selected to play for the U.S. Collegiate National Team in 2016, which featured a tour of games throughout the globe, including Japan, Chinese Taipei and Cuba...Drafted by the New York Yankees in the fifth round of the June 2017 draft...Is a native of Spring, Texas, located approximately 25 miles from Daikin Park...Otto, who grew up a fan of the Astros, has now played at the high school (Concordia Lutheran), collegiate (Rice) and professional level (Triple A Sugar Land) with a Houston-area team... coincidentally, he made his MLB debut against the Astros on Aug. 27, 2021, at Globe Life Field...Signed a Minor League deal with his hometown Astros on Aug. 8, 2024...is signed to a one-year contract for the 2025 season and was invited to Astros Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
2024
Began his year with the Padres organization, making eight appearances (two starts) with Triple A El Paso and going 0-2 with a 4.64 ERA in eight games (two starts)¡also made two appearances with the Padres Arizona Complex League affiliate as part of a rehab assignment...Was designated for assignment by the Padres on July 28 and was released on July 30 after going unclaimed on waivers...Signed a Minor League contract with the Astros on Aug. 8...made two relief appearances with Triple A Sugar Land before being placed on the 7-Day IL, where he ended his season...allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts through one inning in his two relief appearances with Sugar Land...Was on the Padres' 15-Day IL for nearly the first three months of the season due to a right teres major strain...was activated on June 25 and optioned to El Paso.
2023
Made just 13 total appearances between the Triple-A level and the Texas Rangers, missing most of the season with a right shoulder strain...Appeared in six games for the eventual-World Series Champion Rangers, owning a 10.13 ERA (12 ER, 10.2 IP) with 11 punchouts, a 1.88 WHIP and a .311 opponents' AVG...Prior to Opening Day on March 30, was placed on the 60-Day IL with a right shoulder strain...remained on the IL until June 30, missing 81 games...On June 13, was assigned to Round Rock (AAA) on his rehabilitation assignment, and he made three appearances for RR before being reinstated from IL on June 30...made his Rangers season debut on June 30 vs. Houston, throwing a 1.0 hitless, scoreless inning...Made four appearances with Texas from June 30 to July 22 in his first of two stints at the Major League level in 2023...Was optioned to Triple-A on July 23 and recalled from RR on Aug. 28...in Triple-A, he had a 3.38 ERA in 10 appearances (six starts) with a 1.06 WHIP and .176 opponents' average. Designated for assignment on Sept. 5, and he was claimed off waivers by San Diego on Sept. 7...assigned to Triple-A El Paso, making just three appearances (all starts) with a 7.94 ERA.
2022
Went 7-10 with a 4.64 ERA (70 ER/135.2 IP) over a career-high 27 starts...marked the most starts by a Texas rookie since Yu Darvish in 2012 (29) and the most innings pitched by a Rangers rookie since Nick Martinez in 2014 (140.1)...just the eighth rookie in club history to make 27+ starts in a season... ranked among A.L. rookie leaders in starts (T1st), IP (2nd), wins (T3rd), and strikeouts (5th, 107)...led team in losses (10) and HR allowed (21)...went 3-3 with a 3.68 ERA (26 ER/63.2 IP) over 12 starts after the beg. of Aug., dropping his season ERA from 5.72 to 4.64...opponents batted .218/.297/.406/.703 (52-239) with 11 HR (1.55 HR/9) over that season-closing span, this after allowing a .252/.361/.398/.759 (67-266) slash line in his first 15 starts...his eight quality starts were T3rd-most on club (23-P¨¦rez, 10-Dunning, 8-Gray/Otto), third-most among A.L. rookies (11-SEA¡¯s G. Kirby/MIN¡¯s J. Ryan, 8-Otto), and the most by a Texas rookie since Nick Martinez in 2014 (also 8)...earned first MLB win in season debut on 4/22 at OAK (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R-ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 75 pitches/46 strikes)¡held LHB to a much lower BA/ OPS (.201/.629) than RHB (.267/.827)¡opponents batted .282 (35-124) w/ RISP and .339 (20-59) w/ RISP and two outs¡opp. BA by PA: 1st (.216), 2nd (.259), 3rd (.229)...endured brief stint on the COVID-19 Related Injured List from 6/10-25, which included a minor league rehab outing with Round Rock (AAA)...opened the campaign with Round Rock and posted no record over two scoreless starts (7.0 SHO IP) before he was recalled by Texas on 4/22...in total, Otto was 0-1 with a 2.79 ERA (3 ER/9.2 IP) and 12 SO/3 BB across three starts with the Express, his only Minor League action of the 2022 campaign.
2021
Acquired by Texas in a deal at the trade deadline, Otto made his ML debut with six games/starts for the Rangers after an impressive minor league showing¡rated as the Rangers¡¯ 12th-best prospect in Baseball America¡¯s midseason update.
TEXAS: Added to roster on 8/27 as a replacement player from Round Rock (AAA), replacing the spot of Spencer Howard (COVID-19 IL), and went 0-3, 9.26 with 1.714 WHIP in 6 G/ GS¡went 0-0, 1.86 (2 ER/9.2 IP) over his first 2 starts with a .171/.194/.200/.394 opp. slash, but had a 0-3 record and 14.19 ERA (22 ER/13.2 IP) in final 4 starts¡had 28 SO against just 8 BB, but opponents hit to a .320 BA (32-100), including .452 BA (14-31) for LH batters¡made start in ML debut on 8/27 vs. HOU (ND, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO)¡according to Stathead, became the 4th pitcher since 1913 (when ER became official) with 5.0+ IP, 2-or-fewer H, 0 R, 0 BB, and 7+ SO in his ML debut¡the only other ML debut in Rangers history to feature 7+ SO in 5.0-or-fewer innings before Otto¡¯s effort: David Clyde on 6/27/73 vs. MIN.
MINORS: Combined to go 9-4 with a 3.20 ERA (34 ER/95.2 IP), 12.6 SO/9, 2.3 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9, and 1.014 WHIP figure over 17 G/16 GS for Somerset (AA), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA), and Round Rock (AAA) before joining Texas¡at the time of his MLB promotion, ranked among overall minor league leaders (min. 95 IP) in SO/9 (3rd, 12.61), WHIP (5th, 1.01), HR/9 (6th, 0.56), opp. BA (9th, .210), ERA (10th, 3.20)¡did not allow a HR in
2020
Did not pitch due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2019
Combined with Single-A Tampa and the Yankees GCL East and West clubs to go 3-3 with a 3.23 ERA (61.1IP, 22ER) in 17 games (14 starts)¡following the season, played for Surprise in the Arizona Fall League, going 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA (24.0IP, 10H, 5ER, 13BB, 26K, 2HR) in six starts¡tied for the AFL lead in wins and ranked fourth in ERA (min. 20.0IP.
2018
Made two starts for Charleston (A) before going on IL 4/26 and eventually having surgery to remove a blood clot in his right shoulder¡would miss the remainder of the year.
2017
After signing, went 3-0, 1.35 (3 ER/20.0 IP) in his pro debut with GCL Yankees East/West and Staten Island in the NY Penn League¡whiffed 30 of 77 BF.