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Andy looks at four sneaky fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for starting pitchers in Week 3 (2026) on hot streaks, and sees if they can sustain their success.
With another week of MLB action in the books, it's time to analyze four more starting pitchers who are enjoying a successful run of action. These starting pitchers are widely available on Yahoo and could become viable year-long options.
This week, we will spotlight a veteran in Arizona who is enjoying one of the most dominant stretches of his career and an under-the-radar arm in San Francisco who is laying the foundation for a potential breakout season.
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Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves
35% Rostered (Yahoo)
Reynaldo Lopez was a wavier-wire wonder during the 2024 campaign when he logged 135 2/3 innings to the tune of a 1.99 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He struck out 148 hitters while allowing walks at a low 7.7%. However, in 2025, Lopez was limited to just five innings of work after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery early in the campaign.
Fortunately, Lopez has returned to full strength in 2026 and has looked just as dominant as he was in 2024. Through 15 2/3 innings (three starts), Lopez has carried an elite 1.15 ERA with a 0.96 WHIP. While his strikeout rate has fallen to 20.6% (compared to the 27.0% in 2024), his command (7.9% BB%) has looked just as sharp, which has put him back on the fantasy radar.
Can Lopez continue this success over a full season?
His pitch mix has looked nearly identical to his 2024 usage, making his profile straightforward to analyze. In 2025, Lopez has leaned on his four-seamer (51.7% usage), compared to a similarl 55.2% usage rate back in 2024. So far, this pitch has clocked in at 94.3 MPH, a slight drop from the 95.5 MPH it held two seasons ago.
Fortunately, it has remained very effective, carrying a .143 BA and a .252 wOBA. While the .208 xBA and .301 xwOBA under the hood suggest regression is coming, this is still on pace to be lower than the .260 xBA and .338 xwOBA from 2024, which is a very positive sign.
His No. 2 pitch, his slider, has been slightly less effective but remains a plus pitch, boasting a 38.9% whiff rate (44.5% in 2024) and a .332 xwOBA. His third-most-used pitch, his curveball, has a 25.0% whiff rate, a nearly 10-point drop from the 36.4% it posted two summers ago.
The primary reason for this drop in whiff rate is likely due to the decrease in velocity. While his four-seamer has yet to take a step back, both the slider and curveball are averaging 83.5 MPH and 74.6 MPH, a noticeable drop from the 85.0 MPH and 77.0 MPH rates it held in 2024. While the drop may seem small, this does play a role in generating whiffs, especially at a sustainable rate.
His current whiff rate (22.4%) currently places him in the 31st percentile among qualified pitchers, which is a five-point drop from his 2024 rate. If this mark continues to decline, Lopez could see his fortunes flipped rather quickly.
While this drop in velocity has not shown in the box score, it has lowered his strikeout upside, which does make his margin for error much smaller, for fantasy purposes. Managers in need of an SP4/SP5 should still look to target Lopez, but pay close attention to his velocity readings, as his 3.65 xERA suggests regression may come to hit him. However, seeing him command improve should keep his WHIP relatively low, which makes him a solid addition in all 12+ team formats.
His spot in the Atlanta rotation should remain stable given the vast amount of injuries they have endured, but Lopez may hit his "peak" in the early going of the campaign. Managers needing starting pitcher depth should look to ride out this hot streak, but be careful not to overbid, as the strikeout totals are likely to return to his 2024 form.
Landen Roupp, San Francisco Giants
15% Rostered
After making his MLB debut back in 2024 and logging 50 1/3 innings to the tune of a 3.58 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP, the Giants kept Roupp in the big leagues for the majority of the 2025 campaign. He made 22 starts and held a modest 3.80 ERA, 1.48 WHIP with a 21.4% K% over 106 2/3 innings of work. As a result, Roupp was not on the radar for many managers in standard leagues ahead of the 2026 campaign.
However, Roupp has seen his strikeouts take a massive step forward in the early going of the 2026 season and is evolving from a "decent streamer" to a reliable fantasy option.
Through three starts, Roupp has posted a 3.24 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP over 16 2/3 innings (with 18 punchouts). He has also posted a low 7.2% BB%, which is on track to be the lowest of his career. Is this just a flash in the pan, or is it the beginning of a Year 3 breakout?
Similar to Lopez, Roupp's pitch-mix has not evolved much from the previous campaign, but it has been rewarding him with far more valuable results. His sinker continues to be the backbone of his repertoire, as he has thrown it 39.1% of the time (39.9% back in 2025). Under the hood, it holds a .348 xwOBA (with a .303 wOBA), which suggests it could face some minor regression in the coming months.
However, the changes that do exist are found in his secondaries. As shown below, Roupp has dropped his curveball usage and instead leaned heavily on his changeup and cutter.
Even though he is deploying his curveball less than in 2024, it may behoove Roupp to turn to this dominant pitch more often. So far, this breaking ball has generated a near-perfect .157 xwOBA with a 31.8% whiff rate, a nice drop from the .267 xwOBA it held in 2025. However, his changeup and cutter have been very effective in their own right, with a .199 xwOBA and a .275 xwOBA, respectively.
Both pitches have also generated whiff rates above 26.0%, bolstering his strikeout totals. His cutter has also gotten quite unlucky, as the .275 xwOBA is far less than the surface-level .890 wOBA.
Overall, Roupp carries a well-above-average 2.36 xERA with a 0.0% barrel rate, 26.1% hard-hit rate, and a 56.5% ground-ball rate, all of which suggest this projection is stable. Roupp has also posted a low 15.2% Pull AIR%, which is on track to be the lowest of his career and should play well in a pitcher's park in San Francisco. The rising whiff rates will also keep his ceiling much higher than ever before.
Roupp is a solid "buy" in all 12-team formats in Week 3 as he continues to set the stage for a potential breakout season. He has the skill set to produce high-end ratios (85th percentile xERA) while averaging more than a strikeout per inning.
Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals
20% Rostered
Like Roupp, this is another starting pitcher that is widely available in Yahoo leagues: Michael McGreevy of the Cardinals. McGreevy flashed upside in his brief MLB debut in 2024 when he logged 23 innings to the tune of a 1.96 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. In 2025, he tossed a season-high 95 2/3 innings for the Cardinals but took a significant step back, posting a 4.42 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP.
However, McGreevy has rekindled in 2024 form in the early portion of the 2026 season, holding a 2.16 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP over 16 2/3 innings. While his strikeout rate of 16.1% is well below average, his 3.2% BB% keeps his WHIP very low and prevents runners from getting on base.
McGreevy relies on a vast number of pitches, throwing four of them over 10.0% of the time and throwing seven at least 6.0% of the time. The primary pitches in his pitch-mix are his four-seamer (25.2% usage), changeup (21.8% usage), sinker (16.8% usage), and his cutter (11.5% usage). Compared to his 2025 pitch mix, he has slightly altered it, relying more on his changeup and reducing his use of the sweeper and sinker.
However, while this change may look successful on the surface, his metrics under the hood suggest this hot start is far from sustainable. His four-seamer has generated a dominant .130 wOBA but holds a hefty .345 xwOBA under the hood. While his changeup and sinker should remain solid (.287 xwOBA, .220 xwOBA), his No. 4 pitch, his cutter, holds a .448 xwOBA compared to the low .182 wOBA on the surface, which will hinder his long-term production.
Overall, McGreevy sits in the 19th and 24th percentiles in xERA and xBA, respectively, and has allowed a high barrel rate of 12.0%. As shown below, these marks do not place him in the best company among qualified starting pitchers.
While he has found high-end early success with his refined repertoire, he is shaping up to be an early-season fool's gold waiver-wire add. He is a fine target in favorable matchups for those in deeper 15-team leagues while he continues to ride out this hot start, but should be avoided in all standard leagues in most weeks, as his current production is far from sustainable. Tougher matchups could kick some of this regression into the box score.
His elite command does keep him on the low-end streaming radar, but given the hard contact and low efficiency rates, he could be susceptible to a massive step back.
Eduardo Rodriguez, Arizona Diamondbacks
20% Rostered
The final player we will spotlight is Eduardo Rodriguez of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Rodriguez was included in last week's column, but after another dominant outing and his low rostership rate, he is worth taking a deeper dive as he may be emerging as a must-roster pitcher for fantasy.
In his most recent outing, the veteran lefty tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Mets while allowing five hits and two walks with three punchouts. Overall, Rodriguez has made three starts and logged 18 innings to the tune of a near-perfect 0.50 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.
While the 15.5% K% is not overly eye-catching for fantasy managers, Rodriguez is shaping up to be an elite asset to boost your ratios.
The major change that Rodriguez has put into action this season is really on his changeup as his No. 1 pitch, while he slightly decreased his four-seamer. Through three starts, Rodriguez has deployed his changeup 33.9% of the time while throwing his four-seamer 32.8% of the time. This is a jump from the 20.9% usage rate the changeup held last summer and a massive drop from the 46.6% usage rate the four-seamer carried last summer, as shown below.
His changeup has looked the part early on, generating a .265 xwOBA and a 25.4% whiff rate. While the .176 wOBA on the surface suggests he will see some regression, his underlying mark is still very strong. His four-seamer has also taken a nice step forward at a lower usage rate, generating a .261 xwOBA, compared to the .388 xwOBA last season.
His No. 3 pitch, the cutter, has remained a bit of a weak point (holding a .352 xwOBA), but given that he has only deployed it 18.5% of the time, he has been able to avoid the damage.
Additionally, in terms of his batted-ball profile, Rodriguez has generated a low 14.5% Pull AIR%, which is on pace to be the second-lowest of his career and a three-point drop from 2025. Also, the 33-year-old generated a low 6.1% launch angle, a 10-point drop from 2024. His hard-hit rate (30.9%), ground-ball rate (50.9%), and barrel rate (3.6%) are all within the 73rd percentile or higher of current qualified starting pitchers.
Managers looking to bolster their strikeout totals should not place a heavy bid on Rodriguez, as he is not the pitcher to target for that category (instead, pivot to Roupp). However, managers needing a stable pitcher for volume (especially if you lost your ace like Hunter Brown to injury), Rodriguez should be a priority target.
The southpaw is coming off a 154 1/3-inning campaign and should remain a key member of the Arizona rotation in 2026. He is on pace to produce a strong ERA while maintaining an elite WHIP, due to his above-average command.
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