Colin Rea

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Colin David Rea

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Colin Rea was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 12th round of the 2011 amateur draft, out of Indiana State University. The scout was Jeff Stewart.

He began his professional career in 2011 with Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League, going 3-4, 2.21 in 15 starts. In 2012, he was 5-10, 4.11 splitting his time between the starting rotation (19 games) and the bullpen (12 games) for the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League. He started 2013 with the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League, but had an 0-5 record and a 6.07 ERA in 15 games and was sent back to Fort Wayne in late June, where he put up a solid 2.09 ERA in 16 games. His combined pitching line was 2-6, 4.08. In 2014, he spent the entire season at Lake Elsinore and did well, ending up at 11-9, 3.88 in 28 starts. His 139 innings and 118 strikeouts were both career bests up to that point.

In 2015, Colin continued his progression with a minute 1.08 ERA in 12 starts for the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League. That earned him a promotion to the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas on July 3rd and an invitation to pitch for the United States team in the 2015 Futures Game. At the game, played at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH, he closed out the U.S.'s 10-1 win by pitching getting the final two outs in the 9th inning. With El Paso, he was 2-2, 4.39 after 6 starts when he got the call to the Show on August 11th. Starting against the Cincinnati Reds, he gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings and was credited with the Padres' 11-6 win. He also singled off Michael Lorenzen in his first career at-bat to lead off the 2nd inning and came in to score on a double by Yonder Alonso. In all he made 6 starts with the Padres, going 2-2, 4.26 and pitching 31 2/3 innings.

Colin won a job in the Padres' starting rotation out of spring training in 2016. On May 5th, he pitched the best game of his young career against the New York Mets, holding them hitless over 6 2/3 innings until Yoenis Cespedes beat a defensive shift with an opposite-field single with two outs in the 7th. He then added a scoreless 8th inning before allowing a homer to Curtis Granderson to lead off the 9th. He was then replaced by Brad Hand, who gave up a two-run blast to Cespedes, but he still ended up getting credit for the Padres' 5-3 win. On July 29th, he was traded to the Miami Marlins alongside Andrew Cashner and Tayron Guerrero in return for Carter Capps, Jarred Cosart, Josh Naylor and Luis Castillo. He was 5-5, 4.98 at the time. However, he suffered an injury in his first start for the Marlins on July 30th. As there was uncertainty whether it was a new injury or the aggravation of an existing condition, the Marlins and Padres decided to re-work the earlier and on August 1st, Rea was shipped back to San Diego with one of the prospects who was part of the original deal, Luis Castillo, going back to Miami.

Colin was out of the major leagues from 2017 to 2019, missing the entire first season while recovering from the previous year's injury, and then pitching in the minors the next two years, including making 26 starts and going 14-4 for the AAA Iowa Cubs in 2019. That got the parent Chicago Cubs interested, and in 2020 he returned to the Show, pitching in 9 games and making 2 starts in going 1-1, 5.79. He pitched a total of 14 innings during that pandemic-shortened season and did not appear in the postseason. In 2021, he started the season in Japan with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. He did well in the Pacific League, going 3-1, 2.03 in 6 games and in August returned to the U.S. when he signed a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. He made 7 starts in AAA for the Nashville Sounds, going 4-2, 2.27, but his only major league appearance came in the Brewers' penultimate game on October 2nd, when he pitched 6 innings in relief of Corbin Burnes, giving up 5 runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He then returned to Softbank in 2022, going 5-6, 3.96 in 23 games for the senior team.

Rea was back in the U.S. with the Brewers in 2023 and after starting the year in Nashville, came up to Milwaukee for good at the end of April. He proceeded to make 22 starts in 26 outings and logged a career-high 124 2/3 innings, finishing at 6-6, 4.55. He did not appear in the postseason, then in 2024 had his best major league season at age 33, going 12-6, 4.29 as the Brewers' fourth starter. He made 27 starts in 32 games and exceeded his previous career high with 167 2/3 innings. His 135 strikeouts were also a career best. He also picked up his first career save that season, but for a third time was not used in the postseason for a team that made it to the dance.

He signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs in January of 2025, returning for a second stint with the team five years after the first. In his second appearance on March 31st, he picked up his second career save in what was the first-ever major league game played at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, CA, the new temporary home of the Athletics. It was not a particularly stressful outing, as the Cubs were up 16-3 by the time he took the mound in the 7th, and he did not give up a run in his three innings of work. He also got to bat in that game, following a number of defensive moves by the Cubs, and struck out in his first at-bat since 2021.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Adam McCalvy: "Rea goes above and beyond in first MLB start since 2020", mlb.com, April 14, 2023. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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