Sneaky Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups, Buys: Week 19 - Hot Pitchers To Sustain Success?

August 4, 2026

Joey looks at three sneaky fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for starting pitchers in Week 19 (2026) on hot streaks, and sees if they can sustain their success.

Welcome, RotoBallers, to another edition of our Sneaky Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Column for Week 19 of the fantasy baseball season. Every week of the fantasy baseball season, we look at three pitchers who are firing on all cylinders and determine whether these pitchers can sustain their recent success.

For this week, we will look at three red-hot pitchers. All three of these pitchers have thrown the ball well recently and are starting to emerge as reliable fantasy options. This list will include a rookie really coming into form again, a young left-hander who has been untouchable in his last two outings, and a veteran who has benefited from a change of scenery.

Let's dive into three pitchers and determine what to do with them in Week 19 of the fantasy baseball season.

Walbert Urena, Los Angeles Angels

43% Rostered (Yahoo)

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Walbert Urena has put together a solid rookie campaign. After starting the year in Los Angeles' bullpen, the Angels eventually moved him to their rotation in mid-April following a brief stint in the minors. Urena then had a 2.53 ERA, 12.3% walk rate, and a 21.8% strikeout rate in his first eight career starts from April 19 to May 29.

His numbers regressed a bit in the month of June, as he had a 4.28 ERA across five starts that month. But he pitched better than that ERA would suggest. Outside of a seven-run clunker against the Athletics on June 26, Urena was a consistent fantasy pitcher during June. His walk rate dropped to 10.1%, and his strikeout rate rose to 23.5%. He even threw two quality starts that month.

Since giving up seven runs across 4 1/3 innings against the Athletics, Urena has been one of the best pitchers in baseball. The 22-year-old has a 0.98 ERA over his last five starts. While his walk rate (13.6%) during this stretch has been a bit worrisome, the young right-hander is overcoming those walks with some swing-and-miss stuff.

Urena has allowed one run or fewer in each of his last five starts. He has thrown three straight quality starts, which included throwing six shutout innings with seven strikeouts against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon. In that outing against the Brewers, he generated 14 whiffs, totaled 18 called strikes, and his velocity on all of his pitches was a tick up.

Urena has really been consistent on the mound for most of the year, but he has really taken his game to another level since the calendar flipped to July. The biggest reason for that has been his increased usage of his changeup.

In April and May, Urena's changeup was his most thrown pitch. That surprisingly flipped in June, as his changeup usage was down 8% from May. He leaned more of his sinker that month, which didn't work out quite well. Opposing hitters batted .283 with 10 singles and three extra-base hits against his sinker in June.

Well, the Angels have quickly adjusted Urena's repertoire back to where it was earlier in the year. Urena is now back to leaning on his changeup the most, with his sinker usage down significantly over the last few weeks. In July, he threw his changeup 32.1% of the time and his sinker 25.9% of the time. His fastball usage was also up last month (27.5%).

It's clear that Urena's best pitch is his changeup. This pitch has a .157 batting average against, a 37.4% whiff rate, and a 24.3% putaway rate. This is the pitch that the Angels pitcher goes to when he gets ahead in counts. That's really the key for Urena moving forward. If he can get ahead in counts, he's able to lean on that devious changeup that hitters haven't really figured out yet.

Right now, Urena has a 38.3% Ball% but a 12.3% walk rate. If he can get that number down to under 10%, he could be an even better fantasy option down the stretch.

Given the way Urena has pitched recently, he is a must-add in all fantasy leagues in Week 19. He currently owns a .199 expected batting average, 86.9 mph average exit velocity, 28.2% whiff rate, 4.9% barrel rate, 33.2% hard-hit rate, and a 54.5% groundball rate across 99 1/3 innings pitched this season.

Noah Cameron, Kansas City Royals

37% Rostered (Yahoo)

Just a few weeks ago, no one even thought about picking up Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Noah Cameron. He had a 5.27 ERA in his first 19 outings and was getting hit hard start after start in June/July. In a seven-start stretch from June 13 to July 19, Cameron had a 7.97 ERA with a mere 16.7% strikeout rate.

Some of his rough outings in this span included allowing five earned runs across five innings against the Tampa Rays on June 24, six earned runs across 3 2/3 innings against the Rays again on June 30, five earned runs across seven innings against the Orioles on July 11, and a season-high seven earned runs across five innings against the Padres on July 19.

But since giving up those seven earned runs against the Padres, Cameron has been unhittable on the mound. He threw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts as a bulk reliever against the Tigers on July 24 and delivered eight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the Twins on July 13. These two outings mean that the southpaw has thrown 15 straight scoreless innings.

8 IP
1 H
0 R
2 BB
7 Ks

Noah Cameron took a no-hitter into the 7th inning in Minnesota! pic.twitter.com/ux1YtHZbpT

— MLB (@MLB) July 30, 2026

What's been most impressive about this recent stretch from Cameron has been his strikeout numbers. He struck out 15 combined batters in those two starts, and his strikeout rate is way up in the month of July. Although the Royals left-hander had some uneven starts last month, he finished July with a solid 24.8% strikeout rate. That is up from his 20.2% strikeout rate in the first three months.

The Royals have obviously tinkered with Cameron's repertoire a bit. In the month of July, his cutter and slider usage were a bit up. He threw his cutter the most at 22.9%, and his slider usage (11.7%) was up 5% from June (6.7%). Those two pitches have carried the 27-year-old recently, as he had 10 called strikes + whiffs on his cutter and three whiffs on his slider in his most recent start against the Twins.

Both his cutter and slider were hit hard in the month of June, so it's noteworthy that both pitches were better for him in July. His cutter had a .154 batting average against to go with a 26.8% whiff rate and a 33.3% putaway rate, while his slider had a 55.2% whiff rate and a 29.6% putaway rate. If those two pitches continue to be a weapon for him, he could remain a viable fantasy option.

However, it's unlikely that Cameron will be able to maintain this level of success. His expected ERA (4.59 ERA), expected batting average against (.264), chase rate (28.4%), barrel rate (9.1%), average exit velocity (89.2 mph), and hard-hit rate (38.7%) all rank in the bottom half of the league.

David Peterson, Chicago Cubs

16% Rostered (Yahoo)

Sometimes, a change of scenery can help a player. Starting pitcher David Peterson really struggled to start the season. He had a 6.09 ERA and a 19.7% strikeout rate in his first 16 outings with the New York Mets. Things got so bad for Peterson that half of those outings came in the bullpen as a bulk reliever.

Those struggles led the Cubs to take a chance on a former All-Star. The North Siders traded prospect Cole Mathis in exchange for a pitcher they hoped they could fix. Chicago has been notorious for taking a chance on struggling pitchers and turning them around. That seems to be the case here with Peterson, who has thrown the ball well since being traded to the North Siders.

Since being traded to Chicago, Peterson has a 4.36 ERA and a 16.4% strikeout rate across six starts. Outside of a 10-run outing against the Cardinals on July 3, though, the 30-year-old left-hander has really been a consistent arm on the mound. He has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his six outings with the Cubs and just recently allowed two runs (one earned run) with eight strikeouts across 6 1/3 innings against the Yankees on Saturday.

It has been very interesting to see what the Cubs have done with Peterson since arriving. Obviously, playing behind the best defense in baseball at a pitcher-friendly ballpark will help any pitcher. But Chicago's pitching staff has played with the veteran's repertoire just a bit. He's leaning more on his sinker, and less on his slider and curveball.

Peterson threw his sinker 35.9% of the time in July, up 12.5% from June (23.4%). That resulted in the southpaw leaning less on his slider and curveball last month. In his most recent start on Saturday, that was the case once again. He threw his sinker 28% of the time in that outing and totaled 10 whiffs + called strikes. His slider and curveball came in at 18% and 5%, respectively.

Peterson's slider can be a real weapon for him, like it was in his last start. He induced four whiffs on that pitch alone and generated another two called strikes. This is the same pitch that helped him become an All-Star last year, as opposing hitters batted .228 with a .370 slugging percentage, a 38% whiff rate, and 68 strikeouts.

If the seven-year veteran can get his slider back to where it was last year, he could emerge as a viable fantasy option down the stretch. Unfortunately, though, Peterson is not worth adding in most 12-team leagues. His underlying metrics are still really poor, and it's not even a guarantee he'll remain in the Cubs' rotation moving forward.

With the Cubs adding Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes at the deadline and Edward Cabrera returning in a few weeks, Peterson could lose his spot in the rotation. It's best to leave him on waivers despite his recent solid numbers.

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