Today we look at the Cubs’ veteran swingman.
Cascade, Iowa-born Colin Rea is a well-traveled player, having had stints as a Padre, Marlin, Cub, Brewer, and Cub again. In seven years in the majors, he’s amassed a 1.9 bWAR (4.4 fWAR), a record of 37-27, a 4.41 ERA, 91 home runs, 182 bases on balls, 493 strikeouts, and 2 saves in 126 games, with 103 of them being starts.
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He didn’t play very much with San Diego, who picked him in the 12th round in 2011, and was injured after going to Miami in 2016. He didn’t play in 2017-2019, resurfacing with the Cubs in 2020, where he didn’t really distinguish himself but showed enough for the Brewers to pick him up for the 2021 season. He spent 2022 in Japan and returned to Milwaukee, where he pitched quite a bit, and turned in decent seasons — especially his 2024 season, when he posted a 16-7 record, with a 4.29 ERA and 1.9 bWAR (0.8 fWAR).
He pitched for the Cubs in 2025, turning in an 11-7 record with similar statistics, and is expected to once again post similar stats, with his innings count is expected to be about half of that of the previous three years, in the 80 to 85 range, providing insurance against injury to the members of the Opening Day rotation. He is not expected to start as often as previously. (The exception is ZiPS, who expect overall similar performance.)
His SO/9 is usually in the 7-7.5 range. He doesn’t walk too many people, doesn’t give up a ton of home runs, and can be depended on to keep his team in the game. Most of his WAR stems from the last three years, lending credence to the view that his time in Japan really helped his cause. He’s 35, will be 36 in July, and who knows how much more time he has in The Show, but for now, he’s a perfectly cromulent sixth or seventh man, paired with Javier Assad, who fills a similar role.
Rea has all the pitches. He throws a four-seam fastball that sits 94-95, and in 2025 also fired a splitfinger, a sinker, slider, sweeper, curve, and cutter, in order of frequency. He throws a lot of first-pitch strikes.
We’ll see how long he keeps it up.