MILWAUKEE – In a year when there has been so much uncertainty surrounding the Milwaukee Brewers’ starting rotation, Colin Rea has been a model of consistency.
The veteran right-hander has made 11 starts, second only to staff ace Freddy Peralta. He’s made 13 appearances overall while posting a 5-2 record and 3.31 ERA. This includes a 2-0 record and 1.64 ERA over his last four outings.
Rea was at his absolute best Monday night, allowing just a run on three hits and stuck out four without walking a batter over seven innings in the Brewers’ 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at American Family Field.
Code. Red.
Seven innings of one-run ball 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jxHjlc01XD
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 11, 2024
“Colin was magnificent,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
That might be a bit of an understatement.
Colin Rea breezed through his 85-pitch outing with relative ease. He threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 23 batters he faced and retired 13 of his final 14 batters.
“Even though they’re an aggressive team, I think you’re setting yourself up for success when you get ahead in the count — whether that’s Strike 1 or making a pitch 1-1 to get to 1-2,” Rea said. “I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight.”
Colin Rea and His Journey to the Brewers
It was Rea’s longest outing since June 7, 2016, when Rea was in just his second big-league season.
Since then, he’s missed one full year due to an injury and another while playing in Japan. In between, Rea spent time in the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs’ minor-league systems. He even had a brief, nine-game MLB stint with the latter during the 2020 COVID season. Rea then returned to Japan for the 2021 season.
He left his Japanese team that August, returning home to be closer to his family and signed with the Brewers, who called him up late in the season. Colin Rea went back to Japan in 2022, going 5-6 with a 3.96 ERA.
He signed again with the Brewers in 2023 and, after opening the season at Triple-A Nashville, posted a 4.55 ERA in 26 appearances (22 starts) for Milwaukee, which signed him last November to a one-year deal with a team option for 2025.
Rea Saves Bullpen With Bad News Looming
Rea’s bullpen-saving performance came as the Brewers braced themselves for even more bad news regarding their beleaguered rotation.
Rookie left-hander Robert Gasser is scheduled to visit Dr. Keith Meister later this week for a third opinion on his ailing left elbow, and Murphy admitted before the game that he’s preparing himself for the possibility of losing a third starting pitcher for the remainder of the season.
“I’m pessimistic about it,” Murphy said. “I hope I’m wrong about it, I really do.”
Murphy’s skepticism is justified, not only due to the persistent hex that has plagued his pitching staff all season.
Bone spurs in his pitching elbow cut Gasser’s spring training short and kept him at Triple-A Nashville to start the season. After finally getting called up, Gasser produced several impressive starts (2-0, 2.57 ERA with one walk over 28 innings) but landed on the IL with elbow soreness after his June 2 outing.
Robert Gasser’s Injury Is Worse Than Initially Thought
An initial exam by Milwaukee’s medical staff resulted in a diagnosis of a strained flexor in the left elbow and a recommendation to rehab the injury. Gasser sought a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who confirmed the initial diagnosis but noted that while Gasser’s ulnar collateral ligament wasn’t ruptured, it wasn’t full-strength and recommended Gasser undergo Tommy John reconstructive surgery.
With such conflicting opinions, Gasser opted to get a third opinion to help clarify the severity of the injury and determine the best course of action.
“He had an elbow injury early, came back and pitched very well,” Murphy said. Four or five starts later, and it’s back. One doctor says, “get reconstruction.” I don’t think you say something that serious if, in fact, there is something wrong. So with that, his option is probably to come back and do the same thing he did before but then what are we going to get, how do we know and where’s the kid’s mental state going to be because he’s a rookie.
“So I’m pessimistic about that.”
Jackson Chourio Heating Up
With outfielder Blake Perkins getting a day off Monday, Murphy put Jackson Chourio in the starting lineup against a right-handed starter for the second time in three games. The rookie responded in a big way. He belted his seventh home run of the season in the third inning.
A combination of offensive struggles and Perkins’ emergence as an everyday option in center field led to decreased playing time for Chourio, especially against right-handers. But he’s shown signs of heating up of late, slashing .313/.313/.563 over his last five games with a home run, five RBIs and an .875 OPS.
Streak Snapped Behind Colin Rea
Chourio’s blast snapped a five-game stretch without a home run by a Brewers player. Meanwhile, Willy Adames snapped a personal 10-game homerless drought when he tagged Jose Berrios for his 10th of the season an inning later.
Despite the inability to send balls over the fence, the Brewers went 2-3 during that five-game stretch. This included a 10-0 victory over the Tigers last Friday, and they are an MLB-best 13-11 in games in which they don’t hit a home run.
“I like it when we’re hitting them,” Murphy said. “But there’s more ways to beat teams. Tonight, we needed the homer.”
Up Next
Carlos F. Rodriguez will become the 12th different pitcher to start a game for the Brewers this season. He makes his big-league debut Tuesday against the Blue Jays.
Rodriguez, 22, is 4-5 with a 5.17 ERA in 12 appearances (11 starts) this season for Triple-A Nashville. He’s put together an impressive month of May, going 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA. That was good enough to earn International League Pitcher of the Month honors.
