Rea, still getting stretched back out after opening up as a reliever, fanned five in the 69-pitch outing. The Cubs have Monday and Thursday off next week, and they might have Javier Assad ready to return by the time they would need a fifth starter again. However, there’s also the possibility they could also keep Rea in the rotation and send Ben Brown to the pen or the minors to make room for Assad.

The right-hander piled up five strikeouts on the night while issuing only one base on balls. The only run that the Dodgers were able to muster against him in the game came on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Enrique Hernandez in the second inning. Rea got nine swings and misses on 68 pitches in the ballgame — six of those on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 31 percent. With Justin Steele shelved, he may have an opportunity to make another start for the Cubs until Javier Assad (oblique) is ready to take over that rotation spot. That start would come on Saturday against the Diamondbacks.

Rea represents the most logical choice to replace an injured Justin Steele (elbow) in Chicago’s starting rotation. However, he’s the least exciting from a pure fantasy standpoint. It’ll likely be Javier Assad (oblique) taking this spot once he’s ready to return. There’s very limited streaming appeal here for fantasy managers outside of NL-only formats, especially against the Dodgers juggernaut of a lineup.