For the second consecutive season, right-hander Colin Rea got the call.
Injuries to the Cubs’ rotation has meant Rea, who was signed before last season to provide a capable rider on the starter-to-bullpen shuttle, once more frequently has been called upon as a member of the starting staff.
After beginning the season in the bullpen, Rea has made 11 starts and ranks second on the team with 74 innings pitched.
‘‘I feel like I’ve been doing this, even when I was in Milwaukee,’’ Rea told the Sun-Times this month. ‘‘So I guess I’m somewhat used to it. But I still go [through it] in the offseason, train as a starter, get my volume up. That way, when I get to spring training and into the season, whatever happens, I’m ready for it.’’
Rea has been something of a savior for the Cubs, who have been hammered with injuries to their starting pitchers. But unlike in 2025, when he stepped up and posted the best statistical season of his career — a 3.95 ERA in 32 games, 27 of them starts — Rea has struggled to this point in 2026, watching his ERA jump to 5.35 after allowing four runs and putting too many men on base in 4‰ innings in a loss Sunday to the Giants.
That outing followed a disastrous game against the Rockies in Denver, in which he allowed seven runs and two home runs. Only 16 pitchers in the majors have allowed more homers than Rea, who has yielded a dozen of them in his 15 appearances.
‘‘We need a little better, honestly,’’ manager Craig Counsell said of Rea after the game Sunday.
Rea concurred.
‘‘Just not getting it done, really,’’ he said. ‘‘I just need to be better. I’m not seeming to be making pitches when I need to.’’
With left-hander Matthew Boyd working his way back from the injured list, might Rea be on his way back to the bullpen?
Boyd, the Cubs’ Opening Day starter, has to make it back first. He was supposed to return last weekend, but the team slowed down his comeback after he felt soreness in his pitching shoulder.
‘‘I don’t know what that’s going to look like,’’ Rea said earlier in the month, when the Cubs’ rotation seemingly was getting healthier. ‘‘If that does happen, it speaks to the position that we’re in. If we’re making moves like that, it shows our rotation is strong.
‘‘I guess we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.’’
Bridge ahead?
Suzuki returns to lineup
Right fielder Seiya Suzuki was back in the lineup Monday as the designated hitter against the Rockies after being scratched Sunday. He went 0-for-3 with two walks and scored the tying run in the ninth inning of the Cubs’ 5-4, come-from-behind victory.
Suzuki left the game Saturday with discomfort in his right knee, and the Cubs opted to be conservative in keeping him out of the lineup a day later.
‘‘He’s improved,’’ Counsell said before the game. ‘‘I don’t think it’s gone, but he feels comfortable enough. And with [him playing] DH, I think this will give him the confidence that it’s going to get better and he’s going to be fine.
‘‘It’s the same knee [he injured during the World Baseball Classic]. So you expect [him] to feel this over the course of the season.’’
Ballesteros the backstop
Moises Ballesteros hasn’t caught a ton this season, but he’s getting more frequent assignments. He has caught three times this month, including Monday, all with left-hander Shota Imanaga on the mound.
What have the Cubs thought of Ballesteros’ catching?
‘‘We don’t talk about Moises after the game in terms of what happened behind the plate,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘And that’s a pretty good indication that he’s doing a good job.’’