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Don't Be Afraid of Failure and Attack the Waiver Wire like Never Before this Postseason

I'm a perfectionist. This is true even in fantasy baseball. It might be a big reason why I love playing the waiver wire. I'm always in pursuit of the "perfect add" that's going to offset a previous terrible decision, or a draft day loss when a player I liked at the start of the year is no longer providing any value. It's more of a curse than a blessing... Then again, you guys didn't come to this edition of The Weekly Wood Chipper to hear what I talk about in therapy (great random plug for mental health awareness by the way).

Hopefully, you didn't play it safe and you bought in on the resurgence of Andrew Painter. The young arm in Philly is the reason behind my Bob Ross quotes, and he appears to have found his groove on the mound. At just the right time for fantasy managers, he is finding new life with his pitches. Painter's fastball has reached a higher vertical break being up around 17-18 inches (16.5 avg. on the season) and he. However, my favorite pitch of his has to be the changeup, which has helped make the fastball more lively for him. I watched some of his last start against the Dbacks, and noticed he wasn't afraid to throw the change inside to right-handed batters, getting some great armside run. Per Phillies digital reporter, Cole Weintraub, the changeup replaced Painter's splitter. Currently, the changeup has the lowest BAA (.075) and the most run value (6RV) of any pitch in his arsenal. Bottom line: When arms of Painter's pedigree make these kinds of in-season adjustments, they deserve our attention. I'm riding the two start week this week against Houston and my Braves, and if you're playoffs are still going next week, he lines up for a matchup against the Nats.

Oh! And speaking of perfection, how about my boy Ronald Acuna Jr? He's absolutely on fire right now. Thank you for that, Philly. The division rival seems like they've helped ignite a fire for Ronnie. His career line against them is now up to a .310 BA with a .932 OPS, 20 HR, and 64 RBIs. He's back to hitting the high heat again, which is a big plus, and pitchers may change how they attack him now that he's handling the heater again. He's probably my favorite current Brave (Olson a close second) because of how much fun he seems to have playing the game. I love a good division rivalry, and I love Ronnie. Does it help that I have him on my fantasy team? Yes, yes it does. Acuna is now batting .476 in September, and I couldn't be happier. Keep the ball flying, Ronald!

Alright. Now let's get to another waiver wire piece, and see if we can strike gold at the end of the best fantasy sports season of all.

Sneaky Lumberjacks- Pitchers to Add

• SP Grant Holmes (50% CBS, 12.7% ESPN)- Holmes barely makes the roster rate cut, and I'll be honest with you, I'm not the biggest Holmes fan as a pitcher. Obviously love the guy as a person, and as a Brave. He has helped the team out a lot this year. For us in fantasy, he potentially lines up for a two-start week after getting moved to start Monday (watch how they handle the rotation though later in the week). He had mixed results in his two prior starts against Philly this year, but I think he's worth the risk this week given the team context.
• SP Cal Quantrill (49% CBS, 25.6% ESPN)- Listen, I get it. We've seen hot stretches before from Quantrill. Plus, he has faced the lowly Angels twice and the struggling Nats in his recent starts. However, then he shoves against the Rays and the Brewers (13IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 13K). That's enough to get my attention. On the road in Seattle isn't a scary matchup at all, and then he potentially lines up for a pretty solid two step (vs. BOS and TOR) next week if your playoffs are still going.
• SP Zebby Matthews (51% CBS, 15.9% ESPN)- Detroit is not a scary offense to face. He gets them next. Zebby struggled recently against the White Sox, but he only has 5 walks in his previous 5 starts. With pitching being scarce, and the Twins still in contention, I think you could do a lot worse than Matthews if he's available in your league.
• SP Jackson Jobe (52% CBS, 7.8% ESPN)- Detroit's schedule doesn't scare me either, and Jobe gets a juicy matchup in Detroit against the Road Rockies later this week. That's a beautiful stream this time of year. He's coming off a season-high in K's against the Guardians on Sunday, and the best part: 93 pitches. Jobe is a great add if you like a good matchup stream, and want to see what he can do down the stretch. Hopefully, the Tigers keep taking the training wheels off.
• SP Quinn Mathews (28% CBS, 1.9% ESPN)- I like Mathews a lot. For a prospect, he seems to have a great presence about him on the mound, and his stuff is great. One area he really struggles like most young arms is with control. He can walk a lot of guys. What excites me about him as a potential stream or add is he gets the Giants this week, and a potential two step against those same Giants and the Nats next week. He looked competent against the Dodgers, and I'd fire him up for a stream, and definitely insert him into lineups with the two start week if he looks good against San Fran.
• RP Hogan Harris (27% CBS, 7.7% ESPN)- The A's aren't going anywhere this year, but it doesn't mean you still can't tap into the bullpen if you're in need of saves. Harris has struggled at times this season, but he has the last two save opportunities for the A's, and is on a scoreless streak right now. A's get Toronto and Seattle this week. Worth the add if you're in need.
• RP Andrew Kittredge (16% CBS, 4.1% ESPN)- He's up to nine saves on the year, and he seems to be the guy for the O's. I've always liked Kittredge, so I'm totally fine with the add as the O's keep fighting for the postseason. Blown save last appearance, but that's in Coors, and he ended August on a strong note.
• Graduated: Jacob Lopez, Andrew Painter

If you tuned into my last edition two weeks ago, you know how much I love Lopez's deception, and what Painter is now doing for Philly. Hopefully you got some shares!

• Honorable Mention: Drew Anderson, Robert Gasser, Grayson Rodriguez, David Peterson

Drew Anderson intrigues me for Detroit. He's been serviceable, and he has a potential two start next week. He could be in play. Especially with the Tigers' upcoming matchups. Gasser is more for team environment and how decent he has been of late. GRod and Peterson are more potential two-step streams for me over the last two weeks. More GRod than Peterson though.

Scorchin' Wood- Hot Bats to Add

• 1B Ty France (55% CBS, 15.4%)- I get 1B being a very deep position, but the Ty France underrated breakout needs to be studied. The guy continues to hit in the middle of a fun Friars lineup. Even better, Padres hitters have great matchups this week (SF and WSH), and they start the week in Coors next week before closing it out against Miami. He's batting .290 with 20 bombs on the season now, and he's barreling the ball at the best clip of his career (9.7%). Time to invest folks before it's too late.
• 1B/DH Josh Bell (52% CBS, 20% ESPN)- Continuing to ring the bells (you know you appreciated that) for Josh Bell. The veteran 1B is up to 84 RBIs, his highest total since 2021. Before Sunday's slate, he was batting .304/.380/.473 over his last 30 games with 5 homers and 21 RBIs. Multiple utility spots or a struggling 1B? Bell deserves your attention as the Twins fight for contention.
• OF/DH Heriberto Hernandez (42% CBS, 11.3% ESPN)- Hernandez just keeps on hitting, and slugging. I think he's one of the more quiet sluggers still available in over half of CBS leagues. He's got over a 30% strikeout rate on the year, but that's down to 26% in his last 15 days, and he still has a decent walk rate at 10.2%. Hernandez has 8 homers in his last 30, and I think he's a great add if you're in need of power, or looking for a hot bat to stream.
• C/DH Mickey Gasper (32% CBS, 14.8% ESPN)- Gasper has done nothing but hit since he got recalled in mid-August. He has some run as the Sox deal with injuries to Contreras, Mead, and Yoshida. I didn't know that much about Gasper. A 27th round ick in 2018, but he's making a home for himself now. I love a hitter that has good plate discipline like Gasper does. That'll always play even when a guys slumps y'all. He was lauded more for his hit tool than his power as a prospect, but he's squaring the ball up and making great contact recently. Ride the wave in Boston! Something in the water there.
• 2B/OF/1B Jeff McNeil (36% CBS, 16.8% CBS)- Utility man Jeff McNeil is at it again. He's been hitting over .300 for the last month, and he's hitting in a great environment in Sac-town. The A's get 6 games at home this week against Toronto and Seattle. He's worthy of an add and stream in your lineups, especially if you need help up the middle.
• OF/1B/DH Griffin Conine (24% CBS, 3.6% ESPN)- Maybe more of a deep league add, but I do like what Conine has done for the last month-plus. Tough part is he's still a platoon guy, hitting mainly righties. The Marlins face two southpaws this week, so I wouldn't add him in weekly leagues. However, if you're in need of power, rock with one of the mighty fish down in Miami.
• Graduated: Spencer Jones

Jones is still swinging the bat well, and the Yankees have some great matchups these next two weeks. The little league park he plays in makes it even more of a great reason to keep adding him.

• Honorable Mention: Gleyber Torres, Trevor Story, Cole Carrigg

Apparently, Torres could be losing PT, but if he's in the lineup I think he's worth the play at the keystone down the stretch for Detroit. Story is back in Boston, and he's worth keeping tabs on at the very least. Carrigg caught fire at the end of last week, and with Coors coming up next week, feel free to take another look at one of the Rockies' young guns.

Closing Time

One of the reasons perfectionism can be such a curse is that I believe sometimes it causes us, as people and fantasy managers, to be incapable of handling failure. This is why we all need a little inspiration from the late painter, Bob Ross. One of my favorite quotes of his is when he says, "We don't make mistakes. We just have happy accidents." It's such a beautiful perspective to have on failure, and not just a punny painting reference to Andrew Painter. The reason I get therapeutic with you this week is to encourage you to be fearless in your postseason if you're still in the thick of things. You don't win a fantasy championship or in life trying to play it safe.

Well, that does it for this edition of The Weekly Wood Chipper. Follow me on X at SeayPeytonS, especially if you're a Braves fan! I'll post about who I like in fantasy, and I'm always down to talk baseball. Thank you guys for reading, and for your help in making writing about fantasy baseball each week a fun way to decompress as a father of 3 littles. Have fun with the playoffs everyone if you're still in it! Let me know if I can help in any way. Good luck, and God bless!

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