Nestor Cortes: Everything you need to know

Cortes (biceps) underwent surgery to repair a tendon tear in his left arm Thursday and will be sidelined for 9-to-10 months, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports. Cortes landed on the injured list Sept. 5 with a biceps injury. He was ramping up for a potential return through the end of the month, though he apparently suffered a setback or was rediagnosed. Cortes will now be set to miss most of the 2026 season.

Cortes (biceps) will toss another sim game early in the coming week, per MLB.com. Cortes' most recent sim game, which took place Friday, lasted two innings and went well, according to Padres manager Mike Shildt. The team nonetheless wants the veteran lefty to throw to hitters one more time before potentially returning to the big-league club. That would still give Cortes a chance of being activated from the IL before the end of the regular season, though that likely wouldn't happen until near the end of the coming week.

Cortes (biceps) is scheduled to face live hitters Friday at the Padres' facility in Arizona, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Cortes has thrown multiple bullpen sessions since landing on the injured list Sept. 5 due to left biceps tendinitis and is now ready to take the next step in the recovery process by facing hitters. Assuming Friday's workout goes well, Cortes will likely be activated from the IL for the final week of the regular season. Cortes doesn't tentatively line up for a start next week, but with the likelihood that the Padres' playoff positioning will be solidified ahead of their final series next weekend versus the Diamondbacks, Acee speculates that Nick Pivetta won't be asked to start against Arizona. As a result, the Padres could turn to Cortes to make a 3-to-4-inning start of bulk-relief appearance at some point during the series.