The Chicago White Sox enjoyed having an outstanding pitching staff in 2021. The starting pitching rotation did their job and then some as they were one of the best in the American League. The bullpen had a few strange moments but they were certainly good as well.
One reason that the bullpen was good was the fact that Aaron Bummer was a big part of it. Going into the season, we all knew that he was one of the most important players on the entire team. He got off to a bumpy start to the season but bounced back nicely.
The reason he started off poorly is mostly bad luck. Sometimes, things happen that you can see everyone do the right thing but it just doesn’t work out because of poor luck. It isn’t excused as he needed to do things better to avoid that bad luck but it was clear that he would figure it out.
For example, Aaron Bummer is a heavy sinker user. That is is most dominant pitch. Sometimes, sinker ballers make a good pitch but the hitter catches the top of the ball with the bat. When that happens, it can create high groundballs that are impossible for the infield to defend.
The Chicago White Sox needs Aaron Bummer to show up big in 2022.
When that happens, it is going to look bad on the pitcher if it leads to runs scored for the other team. That was happening for Bummer a lot over the first quarter of the season. Once the luck started going his way, he went back to being the dominant pitcher that we knew and loved.
He deserves a lot of credit for sticking to it when those bounces weren’t going his way. He didn’t change much and just kept going at it with that devasting sinker. He showed for another year that he can be one of the top relievers in the game.
Going into 2022, he has a lot on his plate. He is going to be seen as one of the key pieces to the back end of the pen. If Craig Kimbrel sticks around, it will be those two, Liam Hendriks, Kendall Graveman, and Garrett Crochet leading the way from the back end of the bullpen.
It should be a magnificent group and Bummer will be a big part of it. He is one of the most important players on this entire roster thanks to what he brings to the table. Hopefully, there is baseball so he can go out and show it again.