Rea allowed two runs on four hits and two walks across four innings of relief in Saturday's 6-3 loss to the Royals.
This was Rea's first relief appearance since getting skipped in the rotation following Chicago's acquisition of Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes before the trade deadline. Holmes made his team debut Saturday and was shaky in his four innings of work, allowing fours runs on six hits and two walks. It was also his first appearance in nearly two months due to a fractured fibula, so he likely just needs to shake off a little rust. That should leave Rea in a bullpen role for now, though he is capable of starting if a need arises.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Will be skipped in rotation
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Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday that Rea will have his turn in the rotation skipped this week, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.
Rea had been a model of consistency of late for the Cubs, covering between five and six innings in each of his last eight starts while submitting a 3.30 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 34:13 K:BB in 43.2 innings. Despite his solid numbers, Rea will at least temporarily find himself as the odd man out of the rotation while the Cubs clear room for Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes (fibula), both of whom were acquired leading up to Monday's trade deadline. Even if the Cubs elect to expand the rotation to six on a more permanent basis, Rea could still face competition for a spot from Javier Assad, who will start Tuesday's game versus the Dodgers. Edward Cabrera (hamstring) is also in the midst of a rehab assignment and could factor into the Cubs' rotation plans once he's activated from the 15-day injured list.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Gets new company in rotation
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With the Cubs adding Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes before Monday's trade deadline, Rea could slot back into a bullpen role, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Chicago was busy bolstering its rotation before the deadline, and the Cubs now have Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga at the top, along with the newcomers Gausman and Holmes. David Peterson has also pitched well lately, and Edward Cabrera (hamstring) is expected back soon. Given all the other starting options now on the roster, Rea figures to slide into a long-relief role, though he's certainly capable of making spot starts if needed. The veteran righty has 4.59 ERA and 1.36 WHIP across 117.2 innings this season, and 19 of his 23 appearances to date have come as the starting pitcher, so he should be able to give the team some length out of the bullpen when called upon.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Tough-luck loser Sunday
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Rea (8-8) allowed two runs on three hits across six innings and took the loss in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to the Yankees. He walked one and struck out seven.
Rea battled with Gerrit Cole all afternoon but simply didn't get enough run support from Chicago's hitters, and a Jose Caballero two-run home run in the third inning was enough to saddle him with the loss. The veteran righty set a new season high with the seven strikeouts, and he's now recorded two straight starts of at least six innings while allowing two runs or fewer. Rea has a 4.59 ERA overall and has been a serviceable rotation option for the Cubs with Ben Brown (neck) and Edward Cabrera (hamstring) on the injured list. Rea is lined up to take the mound again Friday against the Royals on the road.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Earns eighth win
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Rea (8-7) earned the win Tuesday against the Cardinals, allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out two over six innings.
Rea threw 61 of his 94 pitches for strikes and limited St. Louis to four singles. His only run allowed came in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly after loading the bases. The veteran right-hander has now recorded a quality start in two of his last three starts after failing to do so in each of his previous eight outings. Through three starts since the All-Star break, Rea has allowed nine runs (eight earned) across 17 innings. Despite the recent improvement, his 4.67 ERA ranks sixth highest among qualified starters this season. Rea is lined up to make his second start of the week Sunday against the Yankees.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Yields two homers in loss
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Rea (7-7) allowed four runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five over five innings to take the loss versus the Tigers on Wednesday.
Rea gave up all four runs on a pair of long balls -- a solo shot by Spencer Torkelson in the second inning and a three-run blast by Hao-Yu Lee in the fourth. Rea has allowed 13 runs (12 earned) over 21.1 innings in July, giving up five homers in that span. For the season, the right-hander has a 4.85 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 81:38 K:BB through 105.2 innings over 21 appearances (17 starts). Rea is tentatively projected to make his next start on the road in St. Louis.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Hit with loss Friday
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Rea (7-6) took the loss Friday against the Twins, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out six batters across six innings.
Rea allowed just one batter to reach base across the first two innings of the game, but things began to fall apart when he allowed four hits in the third inning before retiring a batter, including a three-run homer off the bat of Ryan Jeffers that capped off a four-run outburst from Minnesota. Rea managed to settle in afterward and tossed three scoreless innings, but the four runs the Twins put up on him were already more than enough to keep them in front for the rest of the night and hand the 36-year-old his first loss since June 14. He'll carry a 4.74 ERA and 1.42 WHIP into his next start -- tentatively scheduled to come Wednesday against Detroit.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Fans five in sixth win
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Rea (6-5) earned the win Wednesday against the Padres, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out five.
Rea was mostly unfazed by the difficult conditions at sizzling Wrigley Field, and he also got plenty of run support on a day when the Cubs erupted for 23 runs. The 36-year-old right-hander was a bit wild at times, walking three and hitting a pair of batters, but he still worked at least five frames while yielding two runs or fewer for a third consecutive outing. Rea will bring a shaky 4.74 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 68:34 K:BB over 89.1 innings into his next scheduled appearance against the Orioles.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Fares well in no-decision
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Rea did not factor into the decision Friday in Milwaukee, allowing one run on five hits and three walks over five-plus innings. He struck out four.
The right-hander held the Brewers scoreless through five frames, but he was pulled after allowing the first two batters of the sixth inning to reach, with one of those coming around to score. Rea has been an inconsistent rotation option for the Cubs this year with a 4.80 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 63:31 K:BB across 84.1 innings, though he's given up just one run on eight hits with a 7:3 K:BB over 10.1 frames in his past two starts.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Takes another loss Sunday
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Rea (5-5) allowed four runs on six hits across 4.2 innings and took the loss in Sunday's 5-1 defeat to the Giants. He walked three and struck out two.
Rea worked as the bulk pitcher behind opener Ryan Rolison, and the former struggled upon entering the contest. The veteran righty has now taken the loss in his last two appearances, during which time he's allowed 11 runs across 9.1 innings, which has pushed his season ERA up to 5.35. Rea doesn't strike out many batters, with only a 6.8 K/9 on the year, and that limits his margin for error as well as his fantasy upside. He'll look to get back in the win column in his next scheduled appearance, which is currently lined up for Saturday against the Blue Jays, though it's unclear if he'll start of work behind an opener again.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Set to follow opener
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Rea won't start Sunday's game against the Giants, but manager Craig Counsell said the right-hander is expected to "be involved" in the pitching plan, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Ryan Rolison will instead start Sunday's series finale as an opener, lining up Rea to fill a bulk role out of the bullpen. The 35-year-old surrendered seven runs during his last start but was effective in the three outings prior to that with a 3.57 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over 17.2 innings.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Surrenders seven runs Tuesday
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Rea (5-4) took the loss against Colorado on Tuesday, allowing seven runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out two batters over 4.2 innings.
Rea fell behind quickly when he gave up a two-run home run to Hunter Goodman in the first inning. The Rockies got to him for three more runs in the second, with Ezequiel Tovar contributing a solo homer, and Chicago never got close after that. The seven earned runs Rea allowed were a season-worst mark, and the veteran hurler ended with more walks (three) than punchouts (two) while notching just five whiffs. His season ERA jumped up to an undesirable 5.19, which is accompanied by a 1.43 WHIP and 54:25 K:BB through 69.1 innings across 14 appearances (11 starts).
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Tosses 5.1 innings in no-decision
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Rea didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the A's. He tossed 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out three.
Rea came just two outs short of posting a quality start, and he delivered a very similar line to that of his previous outing on the road against the Pirates, where he also allowed two runs across 5.1 frames. However, Rea has allowed multiple runs in each of his last five appearances and only has one quality start over that stretch, posting a 5.40 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with a 17:10 K:BB across 26.2 innings in that span. Rea is slated to make his next start next week on the road against the Rockies, which is far from the ideal matchup with which to try and curtail his struggles.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Clinches fifth win of season
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Rea (5-3) earned the win Thursday against the Pirates after allowing two runs on four hits and three walks across 5.1 innings. He struck out five and also hit a batter.
Rea allowed a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds and an RBI double to Tyler Callihan before departing the game in the sixth, but he was excellent in the opening five frames. Rea has been a mixed bag as a rotation option, but he's at least been serviceable. He's posted a 4.78 ERA with a 1.44 WHIP across six starts and 32 innings in May and is slated to make his next start next week at home against the Athletics.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Pitches well but gets no support
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Rea (4-3) took the loss against Houston on Saturday, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four batters over seven innings.
The damage against Rea came almost entirely off the bat of Christian Walker, who hit a pair of homers to account for all three of the Astros' runs. In fact, Walker had three of the four hits Rea allowed. Otherwise, the righty hurler was pretty effective, completing seven innings for the first time this season and registering his third quality start. This was a solid bounce-back effort for Rea after he gave up nine runs over nine innings across his previous two starts, though Chicago provided him with no runs of support Saturday, resulting in the loss. He's lined up to make his next start on the road in Pittsburgh.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Unravels in rough fifth inning
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Rea (4-2) took the loss Tuesday against Atlanta, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out one over 4.1 innings.
Rea cruised through the first four innings, limiting Atlanta to just three hits before everything fell apart in the fifth. Austin Riley opened the inning with a home run on the first pitch, and Mike Yastrzemski later added a two-run shot as Atlanta quickly flipped the game. Rea was pulled with two runners aboard, one of whom later came around to score. Prior to Tuesday, the veteran right-hander had allowed two or fewer runs in six of his eight starts, making this outing less alarming. Rea now owns a 4.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 36:13 K:BB across 42.1 innings and is scheduled to face the White Sox next.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Fans six in fourth win
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Rea (4-1) picked up the win Friday, allowing two runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings in a 6-5 victory over the Diamondbacks. He struck out six without walking a batter.
The veteran right-hander needed an inefficient 102 pitches (71 strikes) to record 16 outs, but Rea did enough to snag his fourth win in five turns through the rotation since replacing Cade Horton (elbow). Rea will take a 4.41 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 30:9 K:BB through 32.2 innings into his next outing, which is set to come at home next week against the Reds.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Unravels against Dodgers
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Rea (3-1) took the loss against the Dodgers on Saturday, allowing six runs on six hits and four walks while striking out four batters over 3.1 innings.
Rea got through two scoreless frames before giving up a two-run homer to Max Muncy in the third inning. Things went even further south for the righty in the fourth -- he retired the first hitter he faced, then allowed four straight batters to reach base, all of whom eventually came around to score (two after his departure). Rea hurt himself by issuing four free passes in the loss after handing out no more than two walks in any of his first five outings. He came into Saturday on a three-game win streak and having given up no more than three earned runs across any of his first five appearances, so he'll look to return to that form in what's projected to be a home start against Arizona next week.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Solid showing in third win
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Rea (3-0) earned the win Monday, allowing one run on six hits and two walks over 6.2 innings against Philadelphia. He struck out five.
Rea continued his strong stretch, quieting the Philadelphia bats and pitching into the seventh inning for the first time this season en route to his third consecutive win. Having been used as both a starter and multi-inning reliever through five outings, the veteran right-hander has posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 20:5 K:BB across 24 innings. Even with Matthew Boyd (biceps) slated to return from the injured list this week, Rea's performance should keep him in the rotation moving forward.
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Cubs' Colin Rea: Picks up win Tuesday
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Rea (2-0) earned the win Tuesday against the Phillies, allowing three runs on four hits and no walks with five strikeouts across six innings.
Riley Martin served as the opener for the Cubs in this one, firing a hitless and scoreless first inning on six pitches before Rea took over on the mound in the bottom of the second. Rea doesn't have overpowering stuff but was able to keep the Philly offense off-balance with his seven-pitch mix across 87 total pitches. Once Matthew Boyd (biceps) returns, perhaps as early as next Monday, Rea projects to remain in the rotation for the Cubs over Javier Assad after Assad was blasted for nine runs on 11 hits over 4.1 innings in Monday's loss to the Phillies. Rea has a 3.63 ERA and 15:3 K:BB across 17.1 innings and is in line to start Sunday at home against the Mets.
