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The Kansas City Royals<\/a> have had a difficult season managing their pitching staff, dealing with injuries throughout the rotation and bullpen all year long. The lack of reliable arms has been the biggest reason for Kansas City<\/a>‘s disastrous season.<\/p>\n Starters Cole Ragans<\/a>, Kris Bubic<\/a> and Stephen Kolek<\/a> are all currently on the injured list, and the bullpen has also been hit hard with All-Star closer Carlos Estevez<\/a>, James McArthur, Nick Mears<\/a> and Connor Seabold<\/a> all sidelined as well.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n As a result, Kansas City owns one of the worst bullpen ERAs in the entire league. In search of any help they can find, the Royals turned to a player with plenty of experience in free agency.<\/p>\n “Aaron Bummer<\/a> agrees to minor league deal with Royals. Reported to Omaha today,” reported Jon Heyman of The celebrity.land<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n Bummer is a 32-year-old left-handed reliever with a decade of big-league experience and a track record that makes this signing worth a look despite his struggles in 2026.<\/p>\n His career began back in 2014 when the Chicago White Sox<\/a> selected him in the 19th round. He made his way through their system, eventually debuting as a relief pitcher in 2017. Bummer was a quality arm for Chicago, with his best season coming in 2019 when he posted a 2.13 ERA across 67 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n After a disastrous 2023 season where he posted a 6.79 ERA across 61 appearances, the White Sox let him go and Bummer joined the Atlanta Braves<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n He proved to be a reliable soft-contact option for Atlanta over the 2024-25 stretch, posting an ERA below 4.00 in both seasons while elevating his strikeout rate significantly, punching out 120 hitters across just 109 2\/3 innings combined.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that momentum did not carry over into 2026. Bummer posted a 7.63 ERA across 19 appearances with Atlanta before the team released him in May.<\/p>\n