Cubs Finally Have The Perfect Roster To Suit Colin Rea

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Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Colin Rea was always meant to be a swingman with the Chicago Cubs. He possesses the ideal skill set and a modest history of amicably filling such a role. The issue is that the fortunes of the 2025 didn't allow it. 

If you recall, there was a battle for the fifth spot in the Cubs' rotation last spring training. That competition essential boiled down to Rea and Ben Brown, with the other four spots occupied by Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, and Jameson Taillon. The job, of course, went to Brown, while Rea was relegated to bulk relief and the occasional spot start. He ended up limited to a pair of multi-inning stints across three appearances prior to his first start on April 13. From there, though, he gained a role which he'd never relinquish. 

A combination of factors led to Rea making 27 starts in 32 appearances last year. Steele was injured and lost for the season early; each of Imanaga and Taillon struggled to stay healthy; and Brown's own unstable performance ran throughout the year regardless of his role. From that April point in the calendar onward, only two of Rea's appearances were in relief, and even those were both 5 1/3 inning jobs following Drew Pomeranz serving as an opener. 

It was a season that ended up nearly identical to Rea's work in the prior season in Milwaukee. His 27 starts in 32 appearances was the same as in 2024, while each of his 3.95 ERA, 19.2 K%, and 6.6 BB% were just a shade off his work with the Brewers. The most notable change came in the form of a 10.6 percent home run rate that was more than three percent better than his rate in the previous season. Now looking ahead to 2026, it looks as if Rea now has an opportunity to settle back into the role that was tailor-made for him. 

The Cubs will enter the season with Cade Horton firmly in the rotation mix, followed by fresh acquisition Edward Cabrera and holdovers in Boyd, Taillon, and Imanaga. Steele's return is imminent, as well. That's already six names for five spots. Recent track records of the six names atop the rotation depth chart aren't terrific on the health side, however. For Rea, starting opportunities will remain even with Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks each still floating around the 40-man roster.

In the meantime, he'll ply his trade in the swingman role he was meant to serve in 2025. 

FanGraphs has Rea making just five percent of the starts in 2026 and comprising seven percent of innings in relief. Baseball Prospectus is similar, with six percent of starts and eight percent of the relief share. Either case represents a somewhat diminished capacity considering how crucial he was last season, but this is also the role Rea was made for. 

In his roughly 600 innings as a major-league pitcher, 544 have come as a starter and the other 62 have been in relief. The numbers between each read as follows: 

• As Starter: 4.65 ERA, 4.66 FIP, 19.5 K%, 7.3 BB%, .326 wOBA against
• As Reliever: 2.32 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 16.3 K%, 5.6 BB%, .270 wOBA against

While the splits read as somewhat jarring, particularly on the run prevention side, it's this that begins to paint the picture of why Colin Rea: Swingman is such an essential component on the 2026 Cubs' pitching staff. The ideal swingman isn't something that's necessarily quantifiable, but more of a broad skill set. It's an idea furthered by his Statcast percentile distribution: 

The platonic ideal swingman is someone whose distribution looks quite like this. You're not necessarily looking for an arm who absolutely thrives in a particular respect such as velocity or movement in a way that begets high strikeout tendencies. That's a toolbox better served for an inning or matchup-based deployment in relief and prone to much more variability. Further, starters like that are more difficult to find, as being able to stretch that impact across a five or six innings is reserved for a select few that live in the upper tier of performance. Instead, you're looking for something closer to what Rea offers: a dependable set of skills and a high floor.

As such, these are precisely the type of metrics we're looking for out of someone in a relief and spot-start capacity. His walk rates are steady regardless of role. He's adept enough at avoiding quality contact that you know he can survive an inning or be run out there for a few at a time, as we saw in four of his five relief appearances last season. Even when accounting for his lack of strikeouts, his low walk and solid contact figures are indicative of the type of stability he brings to the equation, no matter the role. 

It was probably unrealistic to expect Rea to duplicate his 2025 numbers considering even a modest 1.9 fWAR was far above anything he'd posted in the years prior. But having him settle into a role as a true swingman is the ideal setup for the Cubs. Even six-deep in the rotation at present, it's a starting group with a sketchy past on the health side. Factor in a desire to give someone like Matthew Boyd a break or ease Justin Steele back in, and you have an easy plug-and-pitch option in Rea. As many logistical things are still to be determined with their staff, Craig Counsell and company have at least one certainty on their roster.

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