Veteran left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer opted out of his minor league contract with the Cubs and is now a free agent, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Bummer spent over a month in the organization but only pitched six minor league innings, during which he was tagged for four runs on eight hits (two of them homers). He fanned six and didn’t allow a walk, though he did hit one batter.
Bummer, 32, was a steady bullpen presence with the White Sox and Braves for several years but has run into struggles this season. From 2019-25, he pitched 328 innings with a 3.70 ERA, a 26.8% strikeout rate, a 9.9% walk rate and a gigantic 64% ground-ball rate. Along the way, Bummer frequently worked in late-inning situations, tallying five saves and 80 holds.
The 2026 season has been a poor one. Bummer made 19 appearances with Atlanta, totaling 15 1/3 innings. He was torched for 15 runs (two of them unearned) on 18 hits and 10 walks with only 13 strikeouts. Six of the 18 knocks against him were round-trippers. He also plunked a batter. The Braves released him on May 19.
There were some red flags with Bummer dating back to the 2025 season. The lefty’s strikeout rate, which had sat at 29.3% across the five preceding seasons, plummeted to 21.7% — the lowest mark of his career at that point (aside from an abbreviated 22-inning debut effort back in 2017). After logging a 65% ground-ball rate in his career prior to ’25, he induced grounders at a still-strong but highly diminished 53.9% clip last year.
Bummer’s velocity also tanked in 2025 and has continued to trend downward in 2026. After sitting 94-96 for much of his career, he averaged only 90.8 mph on his sinker and 91.7 mph on his four-seamer last year. Prior to being released in Atlanta, he averaged 90.5 mph on his four-seamer and 90.2 mph on his sinker. Bummer did bump his velocity on both pitches back to an average of 91.3 mph with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, but that’s still nowhere close to his prior levels.
Lackluster showings in Atlanta and Des Moines notwithstanding, Bummer is likely to catch on with another organization before too long. Contending clubs are always on the hunt for bullpen depth this time of year, and Bummer has a lengthy track record in the big leagues. Atlanta is paying his $9.5MM salary this season, so a new team would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the major league roster. He’d be a free agent again at season’s end. There’s no harm or risk in taking a look at Bummer on a minor league pact and seeing if he can either continue to rebuild some velocity or make some alterations to succeed with lesser stuff.
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