Chicago Cubs: history could be repeating itself of Craig Counsell and Colin Rea

The Chicago Cubs are coming off of a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night. The win helped them improve to 6-6, though they are still in last place of the National League Central Division.

Unfortunately, Chicago faces an uphill battle going forward. While every individual season presents its own challenges, the ones that the Cubs have been faced with early in the 2026 season threaten to derail their World Series aspirations.

Matthew Boyd, their All-Star Opening Day starter is on the injured list. What is worse, Cade Horton, who many consider to be their best pitcher, is out for the year.

And so, on Wednesday, manager Craig Counsell turned to Colin Rea, who pitched five innings of one-run ball and set Chicago up for success.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Colin Rea has been Craig Counsell’s safety net before

Rea, of course, is no stranger to Chicago. Last year, he appeared in 32 games (27 starts) and went 11-7 with a 3.95 ERA. Coming into 2026, the Cubs did not want to use him as a starter, instead moving him to the bullpen as a long reliever.

Now, with two of their best pitchers out (and Justin Steele still working his way back from his own injury), Rea has found himself called upon to help fill the void.

He’s done this for Counsell before.

Back in 2023, Counsell’s last season as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Rea was not one of their preferred starters either. But Eric Lauer (now on the Toronto Blue Jays) completely lost his control and had to be demoted after his ERA climbed over 6.00.

What is more, two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff suffered the shoulder injury that kept him out of Major League Baseball for nearly two years.

With their rotation suddenly decimated, the Brewers turned to Rea, who had spent the 2022 season pitching in Japan.

In 26 games (22 starts for Milwaukee), he went 6-6 with a 4.55 ERA. Those numbers may not be elite, but they provided stability in a Brewers rotation that needed it.

Now, three years later, Rea is offering that same kind of stability to Counsell again, this time on the Cubs.

Interestingly, Hoby Milner was also on that 2023 Brewers team. He went 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA in 73 games that year. He has a 2.45 ERA through seven games this year.

More Chicago Cubs news from ChiCity Sports

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