Royals put an end to veteran left-handed relief experiment before it even really began

The Kansas City Royals bullpen has been a real topic of conversation over the past few weeks and not for the right reasons. They sit in the bottom two in baseball across the board in ERA, FIP, WHIP and BAA while also holding the fourth most blown saves. Injuries and underperformance have forced the Royals to get creative in building out their pitching staff, meaning some names only best deemed as misfits have been thrust into action for them.

One of those names was southpaw Aaron Bummer, who had only just signed on with the Royals on July 21 and promoted to the major league squad on Aug. 2. However, it took just 1.1 innings across two outings before the Royals apparently had seen enough, optioning Bummer back down to Omaha on Friday. Due to his veteran status, he'd accumulated enough service time to deny a minor league assignment and subsequently opted to elect free agency.

There wasn't much to be excited about when it came to Bummer's time with the Royals. In that aforementioned 1.1 innings of major league work, he surrendered six earned runs off six hits, one walk and gave up one homer, all without registering a strikeout.

What made matters more frustrating was despite his struggles with the Braves and Cubs' Triple-A affiliate earlier in the season, Bummer looked to step into a different gear in his initial cameo with Omaha before being promoted. In 4.1 innings with the Storm Chasers, Bummer looked excellent, managing to not surrender an earned run with a 0.69 WHIP and .143 BAA.

Royals now missing a key element of relief versatility after Aaron Bummer's exit

In the corresponding move for Bummer's demotion, the Royals called versatile long-man Mason Black back up to the majors. It's a pretty straightforward move on paper, but the promotion of Black meant the Royals are now without one key aspect in the bullpen right now...a lefty.

Since the end of Thursday's game, not only did the Royals send Bummer packing, but they also moved their other lefty relief option in Daniel Lynch IV to the rotation, not just for a spot start, but for the foreseeable future moving forward.

Most bullpens often aren't swimming in left-handed options, but they at least have someone to turn to for those favorable lefty-lefty matchups or even to just give any opposing hitter a different look. The Royals don't have that anymore and that could be costly for them. This season the Royals pitching staff as a whole has struggled against left-handed hitters, with a fifth-worst 4.91 ERA, fourth-worst 1.50 WHIP and second-worst .272 opposing average.

At the end of the day, good pitchers get outs regardless of handedness, but matchups are always a benefit to managers, especially with a brutal-looking bullpen like the Royals have this season. How long the Royals lack of left-handed relievers will last remains to be seen, but it's just another bit of adversity they'll have to suffer in their dreadful 2026 campaign.

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