3 Impressive Fantasy Baseball Breakout Pitchers - Noah Cameron, Walker Buehler, Brandon Young

June 5, 2026

Andy looks at three starting pitcher fantasy baseball breakouts, sleepers off to hot starts in 2026. Are Noah Cameron, Walker Buehler, and Brandon Young for real?

One thing we always have to remind ourselves when playing fantasy baseball: this is a 162-game season. It's a marathon, not a sprint. There are going to be breakout pitchers who are useful early but then decline in value. There are also going to be pitchers getting blown up early who suddenly get on a roll.

That's where this column comes in. I've focused on three pitchers who aren't going to excite you with phenomenal strikeout numbers or elite stuff. But right now, they're in a rhythm, which means that they can provide value for your fantasy baseball teams.

With that in mind, let's dive in to find out if Noah Cameron, Walker Buehler, and Brandon Young are for real, or if they're just getting lucky right now? Is this current hot streak legit, or is it a flash in the pan?

Noah Cameron, Kansas City Royals

23% Rostered

Noah Cameron put up a 2.99 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with a 20.5% strikeout rate and a 7.7% walk rate in 138.1 innings as a rookie last season.  But there wasn't much hype for him due to his below-average strikeout rate (20.5%) and mediocre 96 Stuff+. The underlying metrics indicated that Cameron did not deserve his sub-3.00 ERA, as highlighted by a 4.33 SIERA.

The Royals' lefty justified these concerns with his abysmal start to the season. In Cameron's first seven starts, he had a 5.55 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP with a 19.5% strikeout rate and an 8.5% walk rate in 35.2 innings. This included 4.56 SIERA and a 13.6% barrel rate. Simply put, Cameron was not missing bats (10.0% swinging-strike rate), while opposing hitters were generating hard contact at a high rate against him.

But things have changed recently. In his last four starts, he has a 2.25 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP with a 27.3% strikeout rate and a 3.4% walk rate in 24 innings. During this stretch, Cameron has racked up a lot more strikeouts, while hitters have struggled to make hard contact against him, as his barrel rate has fallen to 3.3%.

We just saw Cameron toss seven innings of one-hit ball, allowing one earned run with zero walks and eight strikeouts against the Reds at the bandbox that is Great American Ball Park.

Noah Cameron today:

7 IP
8 K
1 ER

The bullpen and Q let you down today. pic.twitter.com/KoDDhaHhKh

— Royals Muse (@KCRoyalsMuse) June 3, 2026

So, what's happening here? We can look at Cameron's most recent outing against the Reds to find out.

In terms of pitch mix, there wasn't too much of a change. Cameron threw his four-seamer at 29% (30% on the season), curveball at 23% (17% on the season), changeup at 22% (21% on the season), cutter at 17% (19% on the season), slider at 7% (11% on the season), and sinker at 2% (2% on the season).

What's interesting is that in this outing, Cameron threw his changeup 2.8 MPH slower than usual. Perhaps throwing a slower changeup has made his other pitches more effective.

Whatever the case may be, while I'm not ready to call Cameron "for real," I'm comfortable labeling him as a pitcher who's worth picking up in all formats right now, at least while he's in a rhythm like this.

Up next, Cameron is on the road against a familiar opponent in the Twins. It's likely that we get another quality outing there.

Walker Buehler, San Diego Padres

7% Rostered

Walker Buehler was discarded by the Red Sox last year, eventually landing in the Phillies' bullpen. This offseason, the Padres tried to build a patchwork rotation behind Michael King, with Buehler one of several veterans brought in to provide depth. Understandably, fantasy managers paid little attention to Buehler. After all, this was a pitcher who put up a 4.93 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP with a 16.3% strikeout rate and a 10.8% walk rate last season.

But we should definitely start paying attention right now because Buehler has quietly been rock-solid. In his last five starts, he has a 3.29 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP with an 18.7% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. While the 4.20 SIERA indicates he's gotten a bit lucky, the fact remains: Buehler has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five outings.

The first quality start from a #Padres starter in more than a week comes from Walker Buehler, who topped out at 97 mph on his fastball against his former team, the Phillies. No decision as he faces Sanchez today

Final line:
6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 strikeouts

Season ERA down to 4.53 pic.twitter.com/wLWsnbxI4k

— Carlos (@LFGPads19) June 4, 2026

Here's something else to note: if we remove Buehler's first two starts of the season, when he allowed seven earned runs in 6.2 innings, his numbers actually aren't that bad. Taking away those starts, Buehler has a 3.88 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP with a 19.9% strikeout rate and a 7.1% walk rate in 51 innings.

One key pitch mix change for Buehler this year is that he's increased his cutter usage from 16.9% to 25.1%. This pitch has been decent, allowing a .353 xwOBA. While doing that, Buehler has trimmed his four-seamer usage from 25.3% to 19.7%. This is a smart move, as the pitch has been hit hard, allowing a .403 xwOBA.

While I know those numbers aren't exciting, it still puts Buehler on the streaming radar, especially when he's at home facing a league-average offense. This makes him worth picking up in deeper formats, particularly during two-start weeks.

Up next, Buehler is taking on the Reds at home. That's exactly the type of start you want to fire him up for, especially with Elly De La Cruz sidelined.

Brandon Young, Baltimore Orioles

6% Rostered

Brandon Young has come out of nowhere to put up a 3.35 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP with a 17.5% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate in 43 innings. This comes after he registered a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 innings in Triple-A.

What's notable is that Young has gone 6.2 innings in each of his last two starts, allowing a combined four runs (two earned) against the Blue Jays and the Tigers. During this stretch, he racked up 11 strikeouts with three walks.

While the 4.80 SIERA and the 1.37 WHIP with low strikeout numbers mean that negative regression is coming soon, this is the case of another pitcher who is in a rhythm right now, making him worth using as a streamer in the right matchup.

Brandon Young's 2Ks in the 3rd pic.twitter.com/owzj2HZksL

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 30, 2026

If we look at Young's Baseball Savant profile, you have to like the 34.1% chase rate, which is in the 84th percentile.

In terms of pitch mix, Young's four-seamer has been solid, giving up a .308 xwOBA. On top of that, his slider has been an absolute weapon, used almost exclusively against right-handers, inducing a .267 xwOBA with a 39.6% whiff rate.

The problem for Young will come when he faces lefty-heavy lineups. That's because he throws a splitter almost exclusively to lefties, and that pitch has given up a .392 xwOBA.

With that in mind, it's a good idea to carefully pick and choose when to deploy Young as a streamer. But that doesn't mean that he can't have value for you while he's rolling like this. Just make sure to temper your expectations.

More Fantasy Baseball Advice

Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!