Has Colin Rea pitched himself out of a postseason rotation spot with the Brewers?

As many fans remember, in 2023 with the rotation in flux, the Milwaukee Brewers had to turn to a little known starter named Colin Rea to help keep things afloat. The results weren't perfect (4.55 ERA in 26 games, 22 starts) but the team won more than they lost with him on the mound, which is all you can ask for.

The Brewers felt confident enough in his results that the first free agent signing they made last year immediately after the season ended was giving Rea a $3.5MM contract for 2024 that even included a club option for 2025. That put him squarely in the plans for this year's starting rotation.

For a very long time, that move paid off well for the Brewers. Rea was limiting runs and winning games for Milwaukee for the first five months of the season. His ERA was regularly below 4.00 and he still leads Milwaukee pitchers with 12 wins on the season. He wasn't dominating hitters by any means, but he was getting the job done.

Then a start against the Dodgers on August 13th came around. Rea went six innings but surrendered seven earned runs on 10 hits and four walks in as 7-2 home loss for the Brewers. Things have been rough for him since that start as well and now, with the postseason looming, his crazy to think that his rotation status could be in jeopardy.

Has Colin Rea pitched himself out of a postseason rotation spot with the Brewers?

Rea followed that Dodgers start with a very good outing against the Guardians, then four more average to poor ones after that. In his last six starts, Rea has put up an unsightly 7.39 ERA and has let batters hit .306 with 11 homers against him. Somewhat amazingly, the Brewers are 3-3 in those starts. His ERA has now jumped up to 4.21 on the season.

That begs the question of whether or not he would be part of a starting rotation in the playoffs. Generally, with extra days of rest in between games, MLB teams shorten their rotations from five pitchers to four or sometimes even three. So one must question whether Rea is one of the 3-4 best Brewers starters right now.

Let's take a look at the last 30 days. Brewers ace Freddy Peralta has the lowest ERA over that span at 2.33 followed by midseason acquisition Aaron Civale at 2.63. Coming in next are trade deadline pickup Frankie Montas (3.30) and rookie Tobias Myers (3.42).

Far, far below them is Colin Rea at 6.66.

Unless Rea significantly turns things around in the next couple weeks, manager Pat Murphy might have no choice but to boot him from the rotation when the playoffs begin. That's not to say that he would be guaranteed to be left off the postseason roster altogether. Long relief options are always needed in case a starter sees his pitch count escalate early.

Hopefully Rea does turn things around and gives Murphy a little bit more to think about when crafting his ideal playoff rotation. But for now, his performance has put him at risk of a different role after the regular season, or none at all.