This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- The 2023 season could end up as a defining moment for Aaron Bummer.

In a way, it’s related to the worst performance of an otherwise solid career for the White Sox southpaw. But it’s about the process behind his 6.36 ERA over 49 games more than the uncharacteristic rough numbers.

“If I can’t learn from this year, moving forward, in the face of adversity and failure, then what are we kind of doing?” Bummer told me during a recent interview. “I’m excited for being able to work through things and keep going. 

“We are going to right this ship eventually. It’s just a matter of when.”

Bummer, 29, entered the current campaign with a 2.59 ERA over 161 games from 2019-22. He allowed just 120 hits over 160 innings but walked 68 against 179 strikeouts.

Any sort of consistency now has escaped him, aside from nine appearances in June when Bummer posted a 3.68 ERA. The key is not to let that lack of consistency knock him down and out.

“You just keep plugging along, especially at this point of the season,” Bummer said. “You can sit there and say it’s a lost season or realize you have [30]-something games left to go out there and develop that consistency or keep working on the things you’ve been working on all year.

“I’m taking it day by day and there’s days where I feel like I have it completely figured out and I’m back to where I exactly want to be and then all of a sudden, two days later, I’m giving up a home run on a ball outside of the strike zone. It’s kind of the weird things that have happened.

“Hopefully, I can sit there at the end of this year and at the end of each day, say I put in the work to get through and put in the work to get better and back to where I want to be,” Bummer said. “Just keep moving forward. It’s the only thing we can do.”

There was interest from other squads in Bummer at the Trade Deadline, but he remained a part of the White Sox. His five-year, $16 million extension has him earning $5.5 million in 2024, with club options following at $7.25 million (’25) and $7.5 million (’26) and also features $1.25 million buyouts.

There’s no question the struggles have affected Bummer, with the frustration being palpable and visible, at times. They would affect anyone who cares and is experiencing prolonged mound problems for the first time. 

“I beat myself up over it daily,” Bummer said. “It’s tough. I haven’t been able to help the team the way that I wanted. I haven’t been able to pitch the way I wanted. I haven’t been able to help myself in certain circumstances. You look at the numbers and that’s kind of where we are. It tells the story of not being able to stop the bleeding and doing the little things right. 

“Walks, stolen bases, a lot of things like that that are little things I can control that I haven’t done a good job. So, that’s kind of one of the things I have to be able to lock in on.”