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Cubs’ latest move shows just how desperate things have gotten in Chicago originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Chicago Cubs finally snapped their brutal losing streak on Wednesday, but the organization’s latest pitching move showed just how badly things have unraveled behind the scenes.
MORE: Cubs win a game, get a brutal prize the next day
Bummer for the summer
Chicago signed veteran left-hander Aaron Bummer to a minor league contract this week after the former Atlanta Braves reliever was released earlier this month. On paper, it looks like a simple depth addition. In reality, it feels like another emergency move from a team suddenly searching everywhere for pitching help.
Craig Counsell made it clear the Cubs believe Bummer can rediscover the form that once made him one of baseball’s better ground-ball relievers. The problem is that version of Bummer has not consistently appeared in years.
The 32-year-old was dominant at his peak with the White Sox. Between 2019 and 2022, Bummer posted a 2.59 ERA while becoming one of the toughest relievers in baseball to elevate. Hitters simply pounded the ball into the ground against him, and Chicago rewarded him with a long-term extension because of it.
But the numbers since then have been ugly.
It's been ugly
Bummer struggled badly in 2023 before being traded to Atlanta, and his 2026 season completely fell apart before the Braves finally moved on. He posted a 7.63 ERA across 19 appearances while allowing six home runs and a 1.83 WHIP. Even more concerning, his fastball velocity continued trending downward, sitting barely above 90 mph after once reaching the mid-90s.
His final outing with Atlanta may have been the breaking point. The Miami Marlins tagged him for six runs while he walked five batters in only one inning of work.
That is the pitcher the Cubs are now hoping can help stabilize their bullpen.
The timing says everything about where Chicago currently stands.
Bullpen needs help
The Cubs entered Wednesday with one of the weaker bullpen statistical profiles in the National League. Injuries have piled up across both the rotation and relief corps, forcing the front office into a growing list of reclamation projects. Liam Hendriks was already added recently on a minor league deal, and now Bummer joins the same category of high-risk veterans trying to rediscover something they no longer consistently have.
For a team that looked like one of baseball’s hottest clubs earlier this season, the sudden collapse has become impossible to ignore. Chicago already endured a 10-game losing streak only weeks after putting together two separate 10-game winning streaks earlier in the year. That kind of swing perfectly captures how unstable this roster has become, especially on the pitching side.
Counsell may genuinely believe the Cubs can unlock something in Bummer again. At this point, though, the move feels more like a franchise running out of immediate answers than one confidently fixing a contender. And that is what should concern Cubs fans most.
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