Chicago White Sox added depth and versatility to the bullpen with trade-deadline moves

The Chicago White Sox led by one in the seventh inning Friday, but the Cleveland Indians had a runner on second and the dangerous José Ramírez at the plate.

Sox reliever Aaron Bummer got behind in the count 2-0 before getting two called strikes. Ramírez fouled off the next two pitches and took a ball, running the count full.

After Ramírez fouled off the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Bummer won the battle on the ninth pitch, striking out Ramírez swinging on a slider.

Bummer is focused on building on outings like that.

“Every day that we have is an opportunity to get better and help us be in a better spot moving forward into the rest of the season,” Bummer said Tuesday. “That’s kind of my goal. I want to keep getting better every day to where I’m hopefully in a better spot tomorrow than I am today. That’s all I can ask for.”

Bummer entered Wednesday with a 4.54 ERA, 50 strikeouts and 21 walks in 38 relief appearances this season. He hadn’t allowed an earned run in 11 of his last 13 outings, including a perfect seventh inning with one strikeout in his most recent appearance Sunday against the Indians. He has at least one strikeout in each of his last 17 appearances.

“When he has command of those pitches, he’s as tough to hit as anybody in baseball,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said before Wednesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field. “I don’t care if you’re a right- or left-handed hitter. The last time out is a really good example of what he’s capable of doing because he located the fastball, both sides of the plate, he’s got the slider for a strike and then can pull it off the plate, strike-to-ball and gets chases.

“It’s all about command. He’s nasty.”

Bummer surrendered three runs in two-thirds of an inning July 23 in a 7-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. But he bounced back in his last three outings entering Wednesday, throwing a scoreless inning in each.

“The last three have been progress,” Bummer said. “I’m really trying to stick with it day by day, put the work in every day to keep going. Not really dwell on the outings I’ve had in the past or what I’m going to do tomorrow. Just staying in the moment and give my team what it needs, whatever it may be, to go out there and get outs.

“That’s my goal every day. Just continue to throw the baseball well, stay locked in and hopefully good things happen.”

The left-hander is part of a bullpen that received a boost Friday with the addition of Craig Kimbrel in a trade with the Chicago Cubs. That move came a day after the Sox acquired reliever Ryan Tepera from the Cubs.

“It’s awesome,” Bummer said. “We’re getting a guy (in Kimbrel) that’s probably one of the top three to ever do it. You add that into Liam (Hendriks) and the rest of the guys that we’ve got, adding Tepera as well, these guys have been there and done it. They have the experience.

“We want to be able to put on a show for the fans every night. Hopefully the bullpen, we continue to do our job and get wins for our team. There’s nothing like feeding off the energy of the crowd to keep us going.”

Bummer is excited to see the bullpen’s depth on display.

“Seeing the eight guys, the nine guys, the extra couple of guys that we even have down in (Triple-A) Charlotte, the front office has done a great job of assembling a group of guys that all mix and match together,” Bummer said. “Everyone kind of has their own way of going about things.

“(Garrett) Crochet and (Michael) Kopech have pure power stuff. Liam and Craig can go out there and dominate opposing hitters. Tepera and myself, José (Ruiz), Lopey (Reynaldo López), (Evan) Marshall, all these guys, they all excel at a lot of things. And being able to mix and match with guys and put them in plus matchups, it’s a recipe for success.”