The Chicago Cubs have posted a season worth celebrating so far, but the job is far from over. They finished the season at 92-70 which not only secured their first playoff birth since 2020, but made sure they would be playing at Wrigley Field for their wild card matchup.

The Cubs are set to face off with the 90-72 San Diego Padres on Tuesday to kick off their postseason. The lingering question on everybody’s minds right now is who will be the starting pitcher?

Anybody that has followed the Cubs this season, specifically the second half, was devastated when Cade Horton went down. The rookie sensation was by far the front runner for the opener in the series against the Padres. And it’s hard to believe that Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga aren’t looking like the strongest arms to put on the mound right now, either.

That said, Colin Rea has emerged as one of the better offseason moves the team has made, and it’s not if, but when he make his first start in October.

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The 35-year-old reunited with his former manager, Craig Counsell, when he joined the Cubs this season. Chicago signed him when he entered into free agency hoping to add depth to their pitching staff and the team is lucky that they locked him down.

Rea has spent significant time on the mound for the team this year (27 starts). In that time he posted an ERA of 3.95 which is the best of his career in the majors. He trails only Boyd this season in total strikeouts (127) as he has caught fire recently.

One of his more impressive feats was against the Cincinnati Reds two games ago. Even though it resulted in a loss, it ultimately wasn’t his fault. Counsell kept him on the mound for seven innings (rightfully so) as he struck out 11 guys in that time while only allowing a single earned run.

As a former Milwaukee Brewer, there is nothing more that Rea would like to do than stick it to his old team. It is likely that the two teams could end up facing off in these playoffs and that all starts with the Padres.

There is nothing any team wants more than to win the World Series and that starts in the wild card for the Cubs. The postseason is finally here and the pitching staff has navigated injury after injury with flying colors. Even if Rea doesn’t get the call in game one, he will at some point and he needs to be ready.

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