The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have announced the signing of right-hander Colin Rea (as per Yahoo Japan). Rea will return to the Hawks for the second straight season, and after something of a rushed departure last summer.
After initially signing with the Japanese club last winter, Rea pitched quite well (2.03 ERA, 25.33% strikeout rate) over 40 innings before he left the Hawks in August to be with his family, following the premature birth of his child back in the United States. Rea ended up catching on with the Brewers on a minor league contract, resulting in 35 2/3 innings at Triple-A and then a single game in the big leagues, tossing six innings of bulk-pitcher duty in the Brew Crew’s second-last game of the regular season.
It was enough to put a fourth MLB season on Rea’s professional resume, as Rea tossed 134 1/3 innings with the Marlins and Padres in 2015-16 before Tommy John surgery interrupted his career. He returned to throw 14 innings with the Cubs in 2020, and while the two sides worked out a one-year deal to avoid arbitration heading into the 2021 season, Rea was allowed to pursue that deal with the Hawks since he ultimately wasn’t in Chicago’s long-term plans.
Rea’s performance last season bodes well for more success in NPB, and his chances of re-establishing himself as a solid rotation candidate either in Japan or potentially for another return to a Major League team. Originally a 12th-round pick for the Padres in the 2011 draft, Rea has worked as a starter for the majority of his career. The 31-year-old isn’t a particularly hard thrower or a big strikeout pitcher, but he has a solid 3.68 ERA over 742 2/3 career innings in the minors, as well as a 4.90 ERA over his 154 1/3 frames at the big league level.
I always felt for this guy. Can’t be fun being most famous for Preller’s deception and costing your team Luis Castillo.
I also felt sorry for this guy, until you no one bothered to comment.
Rea was having a surprising nice season when he was dealt to the Marlins in a heavy player swap. Weird part of the trade was that he started only one game for the Marlins, was hurt after 3 innings and was basically returned to the Padres as damage goods. From what I remember Marlins claimed Padres new he had something going on and “traded” back Luis Castillo for Rea. Dude has been working to make it back ever since. Was always a fan of these type of underdog pitchers
So many AAAA players signing overseas. Do they know more than we do about the impeding stoppage?
Most likely means a shorter minor league season and less pay. Taking guaranteed money.
He literally pitched over there last year
He also literally pitched in AAA last year as well.
Based on what we saw last year, if he was healthy we could have used him. With all the injuries, anyone under 40 that can pitch below a 6.00 era could be a starting pitcher.