This pitcher has come exactly as expected, but Cubs fans still complain about him

The Chicago Cubs picked up another series victory with their extra-innings win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Father's Day. That was quickly overshadowed, though, by the Boston Red Sox shocking the baseball world and trading superstar Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants - a move that could impact the Cubs more than you think.

A big reason for the Cubs' win on Sunday? Veteran right-hander Colin Rea who, after giving up two first-inning runs, settled in to deliver a quality start: six innings, two earned runs, no walks and four strikeouts.

After the rocky first, fans wasted no time going after Rea on social media - a trend that's become far too common after he came back to earth following a dominant run to start the 2025 campaign. Spoiler alert, everyone: the 34-year-old journeyman probably isn't going to carry a sub-2.00 ERA all the way through a 162-game season.

It hasn't been perfect, but Colin Rea has been huge for the Cubs

A pair of late May starts that went sideways quickly turned the fanbase against Rea, who, entering his May 24 start in Cincinnati, carried a 2.38 ERA and 3.58 FIP. By the time the calendar flipped to June, he was up to a 3.96 ERA and 4.33 FIP. In his three June starts, including Sunday's outing, there has been more good than bad, and the disparity between his ERA and FIP has narrowed (3.84 ERA/4.15 FIP).

All this to say, everybody needs to understand a very important point: this is who Colin Rea is as a pitcher. He's not an ace and expecting him to pitch like one is a fool's errand. In his big-league career, he has an earned run average just a tick under 4.50 and his value comes from an ability to swing back and forth between the rotation and pen as needed.

Given how desperately short-handed the Cubs are in the rotation, with Justin Steele done for the year and two other members of the rotation on the IL in Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad, Rea has been a godsend for manager Craig Counsell, even if every start isn't blemish-free. Throw in the uncertainty concerning Ben Brown and it's very clear Rea has quietly played a very important role for Chicago in the first half.

Through a plan of attack built around pounding the zone with first-pitch strikes (his 72.6 percent first-strike rate trails only reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal), Rea has helped the Cubs keep the ship afloat. Once Imanaga returns and Jed Hoyer makes his big deadline splash, he'll likely shift back into that swingman role in the pen - but for the time being, he's a member of this rotation - and an important one at that.