Chicago White Sox: 2021 grade for Aaron Bummer

The Chicago White Sox are a team with a great bullpen. There were a few players who didn’t live up to their potential this year but it was mostly good all around. One of those players who is great is Aaron Bummer. He is definitely a late-inning high leverage pitcher that can come in and get any type of outs. When he is on his game, he is outstanding.

With relievers like Michael Kopech, Liam Hendriks, and Craig Kimbrel in the mix, it was really fun to see how each one would be used in certain situations. Bummer, especially in the second half, was one of the best in the business.

Early in the year, Bummer dealt with some bad luck. He does his dirty work with his sinker. That, from time to time, hands out some bad luck. Hitters tend to smash baseballs into the ground on sinkers and that causes funky bounces on the infield every now and again. Once that string of tough luck ran out for Bummer, he was off to the races.

Bummer had an ERA of 3.51, a WHIP of 1.260, and 75 strikeouts over 56.1 innings. Combing that sinker with devastating off-speed breaking stuff and you have someone who is very difficult to hit. Even in the first half when the bad luck was there, it was clear that he was going to break out of it because the stuff was still nasty.

He is one of the most reliable pitchers that the White Sox have on the entire staff. When Bummer comes into high leverage situations, you can feel very good about the Sox’s chance of pulling out of it. Even when he does have that previously mentioned misfortune, you feel like you can ride or die with him.

Aaron Bummer is a very important piece to the Chicago White Sox puzzle.

2021 Final Grade: B

Aaron Bummer gets a B. He was outstanding for most of the season but we all know that he can be better. He has had A-level seasons in the past and deserves to have those kinds of expectations on him. He is an elite bullpen arm when he is at his best so a B is fair for him this year. It was above average on most nights and elite on others. Early, however, there were some blemishes.

2022 Expectations:

2022 is going to be a fun year for the White Sox. Anything that they needed to work on in 2021 should be good to go by 2022. Bummer should come in with a fresh mindset that could allow him to be one of the ten best relievers in the sport again. Pitching in what should be a good White Sox bullpen, expect another very good season from Bummer in 2022.