The Chicago White Sox are in great shape with Aaron Bummer going forward.
Aaron Bummer is, when you think about it, one of the best players on the entire Chicago White Sox roster. He is a very good pitcher that has only gotten better as his career has gone along here. He made his debut with the White Sox as a 23-year-old in 2017. Here in 2020, he is 27 and probably the best relief pitcher on the team. He can be one of those relief pitchers that you use in all situations which makes him even more valuable.
His issue in 2020 was an injury. In the few games he got in he was amazing. He appeared in nine games where he had 9.1 innings pitched. It is not a great sample size at all but he did have a 0.96 ERA and a 1.071 WHIP. He had a remarkable 14 strikeouts in those 9.1 innings which is a very good number. He wasn’t credited with a save at any point but he did earn a win to have a 1-0 record. The fact that his WAR was 0.3 says a lot about how good he is when he is in there.
The biceps strain injury had Bummer on the 45-day IL. It was an injury that hindered his season in terms of games played but he was awesome when he was in. It is something that we have to hope doesn’t happen regularly because the White Sox bullpen is that much better when he is involved.
Final Grade: C
Bummer gets a C and that is probably fair in the eyes of most people. It isn’t an A because he barely played and it isn’t anything lower because he was so good when he did play. If he would have played all year long, he might have probably been in the A to A+ range based on his pace.
2021 Outlook:
You can expect more of the same if Bummer is healthy in 2021. He is going to be in his age-27 season so there is a whole lot left in the tank. We don’t know if Alex Colome is going to be back to be the closer but if he is not, Bummer might assume that role. He is also the perfect setup man or long reliever if the White Sox need a few outs. No matter what, he is going to be in the bullpen for the Sox and making an impact in a good amount of games. If they make the playoffs, he is going to be one of the biggest keys to success.