Aaron Bummer is back on the open market.
The Royals made a roster move that sent left-hander Aaron Bummer off the 40-man picture and, because of his service time, gave him the choice to accept an outright assignment or test free agency. He chose the latter after Kansas City recalled Mason Black to Triple-A Omaha and optioned Bummer to Omaha in the corresponding move.
Bummer’s brief run with the Royals never got off the ground. He appeared in just one game and lasted only 1 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and a walk. That outing pushed his season ERA to 10.26.
The 32-year-old opened the year with Atlanta, where things had already gone sideways. He was released in May after posting a 7.63 ERA over 15 1/3 innings with the Braves, then landed minor league deals with the Cubs and Royals. Chicago never called him up.
That’s a sharp fall for a pitcher who was a dependable bullpen piece from 2019-24. Over that stretch, Bummer logged 273 2/3 innings with a 3.68 ERA between the White Sox and Braves, adding five saves and 78 holds while often working in a setup role. He also turned in a 3.81 ERA across 54 1/3 innings for Atlanta last season.
But the warning signs were already there. His velocity dropped more than three miles per hour from its peak last year, and both his strikeout rate and ground-ball rate moved in the wrong direction. This season only made those concerns louder.
Bummer is now sitting at 90.3 mph on his sinker in 2026, more than five miles per hour below his 2019-21 peak. Another club could take a flier on him and see whether a stint in Triple-A can help bring some life back to that pitch, but he’ll likely need a productive winter to rebuild enough of that lost zip to get back to the majors next year.
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