Ryan Buchter (RP, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues

OWNED IN: 17% Fleaflicker

ANALYSIS: Ryan Buchter is not your run-in-the-mill closer. He is a 29-year-old rookie with 35 career innings under his belt. But with Fernando Rodney being shipped off to South Beach, the Padres are likely to turn to Buchter for ninth-inning duties.

Buchter failed to reach Triple-A until he was 25, and remained there for quite a while. In parts of four different seasons with three different organizations, he held a 2.73 ERA over his time in the highest level of the minor leagues.

He finally got a chance in the big leagues this year, and through 34 IP, the southpaw owns a 2.91 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with a whopping 50 punchouts.

This promotion is coming at an interesting time, considering Buchter allowed five runs in just 0.1 innings on Wednesday. He also yielded four runs in 0.2 innings on June 2. Still, he has been near perfect otherwise, with just two runs give up in the other 33 frames.

While Buchter is without any closing experience in the Majors, he had accumulated 36 saves throughout his time in the minors. The Padres’ potential new closer is going to have some mishaps from time to time, but he has proven that he can retire big-league hitters on a consistent basis with his swing-and-miss stuff.

As always, saves are too valuable to miss out on, so don’t hesitate to grab Buchter in all leagues. Brandon Maurer would likely be next in line for the Padres.