Colin

Rea

Rea went unclaimed on waivers and is now a free agent with a $1 million buyout on his contract. The 34-year-old posted a 4.29 ERA and a 135/43 K/BB in 167 2/3 innings last season for the Brewers. He should have a few teams willing to give him another opportunity in 2025.

A little bit of a surprise, because the Brewers have a $5.5 million option here on a guy who went 12-6 with a 4.29 ERA and a 135/43 K/BB in 167 2/3 innings last season. We imagine he’ll be claimed by a team, which will save the Brewers from having to pay him a $1 million buyout.

The Mets were all over Rea in his regular season finale. Eight of the nine hitters in their lineup had a hard-hit ball and seven of them had at least one hit. He had poor command of his sweeper and too many of his sinkers and cutters wound up in the heart of the plate. He’ll end his season with a 4.29 ERA and it’s unclear whether or not he will be a part of the Brewers’ playoff rotation.

Rea allowed runs in the first two innings, and while he settled down in the third and fourth, he gave up another in the fifth on a Joey Ortiz homer before leaving. The right-hander has not gone deep in his outings as of late, and this is his fifth straight outing where he hasn’t been able to go five innings. That’s not likely to change next week against the Pirates, and Rea can safely be dropped — if he hasn’t been already — in fantasy leagues.

The team could have plugged Rea back into the rotation on Friday, but that day is listed as a TBA right now. One imagines Rea will see innings then; he’d be on three days’ rest after throwing just 29 pitches in 2 2/3 scoreless innings Monday. This recent handling of Rea suggests that the Brewers are looking at Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers, Frankie Montas and Aaron Civale as their postseason starters.

The rules are the rules. Even though the Brewers won by four runs, Rea still gets the save because he entered in a save situation and finished the game. The stat might be flawed, folks. Rea has his first and all-but-assuredly last save of the year.

Rea struggled mightily in this one, giving up four runs in the first inning against the Giants, including a two-run homer by Jerar Encarnacion. Three straight hits to start the second would bring a fifth run across before Mike Yastrzemski took him deep for a three-run blast to give the Giants an eight-run lead. Rea allowed two more runs in the fourth on a double, base hit, and solo homer. The 34-year-old right-hander saw his ERA jump from 3.72 to 4.21 with a 1.22 WHIP and a 123/39 K/BB ratio across 154 innings. He’ll take on the Phillies in Milwaukee on Monday.

Rea’s night started with a lot of stress. He labored through a 30-pitch first inning in which he hit a batter to load the bases and then walked the next two batters to force in two runs. He allowed just two base runners across his next three innings, but that first inning drove his pitch count up too far for him to give any length. He’ll look to get back on track in his next scheduled start against the Giants in San Francisco.

It’s Rea’s shortest start of the year. The Brewers brought him out with a 4-3 lead to begin the fifth, only to pull him after a Jonathan India homer led off the inning. Rea’s start today was his fourth straight in which he went without walking a batter. He’ll probably come back to face the Cardinals next Wednesday, unless maybe the Brewers want DL Hall to pitch then.

Rea served up a solo homer to JJ Bleday in the first inning and held the A’s off the board until Brent Rooker took him deep for a two-run blast in the sixth. Rea started the seventh, giving up a base hit and leaving with two outs at 102 pitches. The inherited run would come in to score on a double by Daz Cameron. The 34-year-old right-hander will take a 3.61 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a 113/36 K/BB ratio across 142 innings into a start against the Reds in Cincinnati on Friday.