Cubs' Colin Rea continuing to evolve after stints in Japan, Milwaukee

MESA, Ariz. – When Craig Counsell thinks about his time managing veteran right-hander Colin Rea, a moment stands out that has nothing to do with his successful return to the majors after spending 2022 in Japan.

It came at the end of the 2021 season, when the Brewers had already clinched the division title and were lining up pitching for the playoffs. They just needed someone to cover innings in the final game of the season. So, they called up Rea, who they’d signed to a minor-league deal in August.

“It was a small heroic performance for the team, what he did that day,” Counsell said. “And just showed you a lot about the player and the person.”

Rea, 34, is in a much different place in his career than he was when he took the ball for six innings, allowing five runs in his only major-league appearance of the 2021 season. He’s now back with the Cubs, on a one-year deal worth $6 million, after making 49 starts for the Brewers over the past two seasons.

In his first Cactus League start of the year, Rea issued a pair of walks and allowed two hits and one run in 1 ⅔ innings Sunday against the Rangers.

Rea could fill different roles for the Cubs. He’s building up as a starter and competing for the last rotation spot. But he’s no stranger to changing plans and throwing out of the bullpen.

“What are our ultimate goals?” he said Sunday. “That's obviously to win a championship and bring a World Series to Chicago. So, whatever you’ve got to do as a player to contribute to that, no matter what it is, that's what we're here for.”

The last time Rea was with the Cubs, for the shortened 2020 season, he served as a swingman and recorded a 5.79 ERA in nine games. They released him the following January, and he signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

The Iowa native played part of the season overseas, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic his family couldn’t join him. He returned and secured his release when his daughter was born prematurely, not wanting to head back to Japan while she was still in the NICU. That brought him to the Brewers to finish the season. He rejoined the SoftBank Hawks the next year.

“The second year was a lot better because the family was able to come over,” he said. “We just tried to enjoy the experience, whether it was the baseball part, or outside of the field, doing as much as we could to experience the culture.”

He knew that playing in a different league with a different style of baseball, the approach that had worked for him in MLB wouldn’t necessarily work.

“They have pretty good awareness of the strike zone over there, and they're able to foul off good pitches,” he said. “So attacking early just gave you that aggressive mindset, just to throw strikes early in the count. Because some of the guys in the lineups are trying to build up your pitch count.”

That mentality kept him from nibbling at the edge of the strike zone when he returned to the majors, again signing with the Brewers. But Counsell also noticed an improvement in Rea’s stuff.

“Colin's been a pretty good strike-thrower,” Counsell said. “He's always had a good fastball. I think he got a little more fastball, frankly, from just being healthy. And I think his slider got better.”

Rea throws a sweeping slider, which became his go-to breaking ball in 2023. This spring, he’s working on a harder gyro slider. He said he threw it “quite a bit” Sunday, especially in the first inning.

“It felt really good,” he said. “Got some swing-and-misses with it, got some foul balls, and just felt good coming out of my hand.”

He hopes it can develop into a true putaway pitch to right-handed hitters, with his sweeper serving as more of a weak-contact pitch.

“I don't want to be content with where I'm at,” Rea said. “It's like, ‘How can I continue to get better and progress and give the hitters a different look than what they had the last couple years?’”