The Braves released Aaron Bummer on Tuesday afternoon, cutting ties with the left-hander a day after he was battered in a blowout loss to the Marlins. Bummer issued five walks and gave up six earned runs in one inning on Monday night, then was let go at 12:08 p.m. ET as Atlanta moved quickly to reshape its bullpen.
The team will eat a substantial amount of the money left on Bummer’s three-year contract, a costly end for a pitcher the Braves had hoped would help stabilize late-game innings. Dylan Dodd was added to the bullpen in a corresponding move, with the club returning the left-hander from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstating him from the injured list.
Bummer had struggled with consistency over the past month, and Monday’s outing turned a difficult stretch into a decisive break. Atlanta’s loss to Miami was already lopsided by the time Bummer’s inning unraveled, and the Braves followed it by sending right-hander JR Ritchie to Triple-A Gwinnett after the game while adding right-hander Víctor Mederos to the roster.
The move leaves Atlanta paying for a mistake it no longer wanted to carry on the active roster. For Bummer, it ends a brief and uneven run in Atlanta; for the Braves, it is a blunt signal that the bullpen is still a work in progress and that the cost of fixing it can be steep.
