Colin Rea
The road to the Major Leagues
2008
After High School graduation, Colin attended University of Northern Iowa.
2009
UNI ended up dropping it’s program, so the following year Colin attended a Junior College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
2010
After that, he spent one year at Indiana State where Colin was reunited with Rick Heller - the baseball coach during his time at UNI and the current University of Iowa head baseball coach.
2011
Colin was drafted in the 12th round in 2011 by the San Diego Padres.
He spent the 2011 season playing for Eugene Emeralds in Oregon for short season Single A, who was managed by Pat Murphy. He had 15 appearances and a 2.21 ERA.
2012
The 2012 season was spent in Indiana playing for the Fort Wayne Tincaps Long Season Single A. He appeared in 31 games and ended the season with a 4.11 ERA.
2013
In 2013, Colin started the year with the Fort Wayne Tincaps. After 16 appearances and a 2.09 ERA, he got promoted to Advanced Single A in California.
2014
The 2014 season was spent in California with the Lake Elsinore Storm. Appearing in 28 games, he gained 11 wins and an ERA of 3.88 for the year.
2015
2015 was a pivotal year in Colin’s career. He started the season for the San Antonio Missions in Texas in Double AA.
There, he received Texas Pitcher of the Week, MLB.com Organization All-Star, Texas Mid-season All-Star & Texas Postseason All-Star.
Colin was also chosen to play in the Futures All-Star game in Cincinnati Ohio.
After 75 innings in AA pitched, he was promoted to Triple AAA El Paso Chihuahuas and pitched in 6 games, before making his MLB Debut in August.
Colin made his MLB Debut on August 28, 2015 for the San Diego Padres who, at the time, was being managed by Pat Murphy.
During his Debut, he pitched 5 innings, had 7 hits, 3 ER & 4 SO and received the win. He also had a single & scored during that game.
2016
Colin earned a rotation spot for the Padres in 2016. He appeared in 19 games in the 2016 season and had 76 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.98 before he was traded to the Miami Marlins.
He made one start with the Marlins before being diagnosed with a torn UCL in his elbow, which caused the trade to be rescinded, bringing him back to the Padres.
2017
Tommy John surgery kept Colin out of the 2017 season.
2018
After appearing in 6 games for AA and 12 games for AAA in 2018, the Padres released him at the end of the season.
2019
In 2019, the Chicago Cubs brought Colin onto the team.
Rea made 26 stars for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, had a career high 120 strikeouts and received Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year. He also appeared in the AAA All Star game this year.
Appeared on Sunday Night Spotlight with KCRG and Moonlight Graham Show highlighted his unique story.
2020
Covid in 2020 caused a shorter MLB season and no minor league baseball. Rea ended up having 9 appearances for the Chicago Cubs this year.
2021
Colin pursued an opportunity with a Japan League team, the Fukuoka Hawks.
During his 1 week break at home in July, his wife Megan, prematurely gave birth to their daughter. Colin cut his season short with Japan, and signed a minor league contract with the Brewers for the remainder of the season.
He spent his time in Nashville TN with their triple-A team, the Nashville Sounds. He made one appearance with the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of the year.
2022
Colin went back to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan, and brought his wife and, then, 3 kids, with him.
He pitched 23 games, going 100 innings, 80 strikeouts & an ERA of 3.96.
2023
Colin signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023.
He started out in their Triple A division in Nashville.
After 3 appearances, he was promoted to Milwaukee and ended up helping the Brewers win the National League Central Division Championship by making 22 starts, 26 appearances, went 4.55 ERA, and went 6-6 with the Brewers for the year.
2024
Colin signed his first Guaranteed Major League Contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024. The Brewers are being managed by Pat Murphy, who was the manager during Colin’s time with the Eugene Emeralds in 2011 and the San Diego Padres in 2015 during his MLB Debut.
We are looking forward to a fun year making the 3-hour drive many times throughout the season as part of the Brew Crew!
