A key addition to the bullpen this offseason that is paying huge dividends for the Braves so far

When Aaron Bummer allowed three runs in his first two outings for the Atlanta Braves, it looked like the 2023 reliever’s luck continued. It also left a sour taste in the mouths of some Braves fans after Alex Anthopoulos sent five players, including beloved pitcher Michael Soroka, to acquire him.

However, since his first two games, the left-handed reliever has been excellent for the Braves. Meanwhile, the performance of players traded to the Chicago White Sox further proved the good sense of the Braves general manager.

After a rough final season with the White Sox, in which his ERA was 6.79, Bummer was excellent for the Braves.

In 25.1 innings, the 30-year-old allowed nine earned runs (3.20 ERA) and struck out 25.9 percent of the batters he faced.

Bummer did a great job limiting hard contact and keeping the ball on the ground. He still hasn’t allowed a single barrel this season and has a ground ball rate of 59.2%, which ranks in the 96th percentile according to Baseball Savant.

Bummer has been a bit unlucky as his xERA is 3.04 and his FIP is 2.51. In the season, he has an fWAR of 0.4who scores higher than 71% of relievers this year and is the highest among Atlanta relievers.

Obviously, the Braves got a lot of value out of Bummer, but was it worth trading away five players to get him?

Currently, the Chicago White Sox are on pace to lose 119 games, which is just shy of MLB’s losing record since 1901. Although that doesn’t necessarily match how the trade worked out for the White Sox, it’s not completely unrelated.

While the Braves only received Aaron Bummer, the White Sox received Michael Soroka, Nicky Lopez, Braden Shewmake, Jared Shuster and Riley Gowens.

A five-for-one trade isn’t completely unheard of, but typically these trades involve a star, not a middle reliever.

However, the trade allowed the Braves to move on from two players they probably weren’t in an offer for, as well as two fringe players and a fringe prospect who didn’t have a clear place in the organization.

Did any of these five players make the Braves regret leaving them? Probably not.

Michael Soroka struggled in his nine starts, as he had a 6.39 ERA, allowed 10 home runs and walked as many batters as he struck out. In May, Chicago moved him to the bullpen, where he had somewhat more success.

In 17.1 innings as a reliever, Soroka has a 4.15 ERA and has significantly improved his strikeout rate, striking out 14.54 batters per nine innings. Walks are unfortunately still an issue, as he walks 6.23 batters per nine. Overall, Soroka is worth -0.4 fWAR.

Nicky Lopez was handed the full-time starting role at second base, and while his defense remained solid (2 OAA), his offense was terrible. He slashed .235/.288/.265 (61 wRC+), didn’t hit a home run and made just 28.6% of his stolen base chances. Even with great defense, he’s worth -0.2 fWAR.

Braden Shewmake spent the first month on the White Sox major league roster and was even worse than Lopez. In just 67 plate appearances, he amassed -0.7 fWAR thanks to a -13 wRC+ (.125/.134/.203 slash line) and -3 OAA on defense. Chicago fired him on May 17 and he has been on the minor league injured list since June 2.

Surprisingly, after struggling mightily with Atlanta in his first year, Jared Shuster was serviceable. In 28.1 innings, he has a 3.49 ERA (4.31 FIP) with a 0.1 fWAR. His lack of strikeouts (13.1% of batters) coupled with his abundance of walks (10.7%), however, indicates that he has a bit of luck.

Finally, Riley Gowens spent the year with the A+ level Winston-Salem Dash. The 24-year-old has a 4.40 ERA in 59.1 innings.

Generally, the White Sox got -1.2 fWAR of the five players they acquired from Atlanta. Simply put, the trades didn’t work out well for Chicago.

Despite the volume Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves sent to Chicago to get Aaron Bummer, it appears the general manager once again outplayed the other team as it allowed the team to shed players that she didn’t plan to keep while acquiring a key member of the Braves’ 2024 bullpen.

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