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We are only two years removed from Yankees starter Nestor Cortes landing a spot on the A.L. All-Star team, back when he was 12-4 in 2022. He was one of many Yankees who bottomed out in 2023—persistent rotator cuff troubles were the problem then—but was on the mound for Opening Day here in 2024 after Gerrit Cole’s injury.
A little more than five months later, now Cortes is working out of the bullpen, a role he neither asked for nor wants. Granted, he did so brilliantly, combining with Clarke Schmidt on a shutout of the Cubs on Saturday, pitching 4.1 innings of relief to boost Clarke in his return from the injured list.
“Obviously I was upset,” Cortes said, via ESPN. “I felt like I’ve been, amongst all the starters, the workhorse here. Once Cole went down, they picked me to be the Opening Day starter — not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter. I had to switch my routine there.
“Now they do this.”
Nestor Cortes Leads the Rotation in Innings
Indeed, Cortes has been the pinata of the Yankees rotation, the guy the team seems to feel free to knock around as they workout roles in the rotation.
Remember, a little more than a month ago, reports had the Yankees, in an attempt to upgrade their starting pitching rotation, putting the veteran lefty on the trade block. Cortes is 9-10 with a 3.97 ERA this season, the product of a very solid opening three months, which was followed by a difficult July that preceded the trade chatter.
He admitted he was not happy with seeing himself churned through the trade-rumor mill at the end of July, telling reporters, “It’s all over Twitter.”
Cortes ultimately was not traded, and the Yankees’ attempts to land Jack Flaherty fell apart late in the process. Cortes struggled in his first start after the deadline but responded with three great starts to close out August (3-0, 0.44 ERA in 20.2 innings).
He was knocked around by the Cardinals (five runs in 4.0 innings) on September 1, but had five days off before allowing no hits and one walk to back Schmidt. He is right about being a workhorse–he leads the staff with 163.1 innings pitched.
Yankees Have an Abundance of Pitching
Cortes said that, though he might not much like the decisions of manager Aaron Boone and GM Brian Cashman, he is always ready to support his teammates.
“I’m never going to back down from a challenge,” he said. “I’m never going to leave my teammates out to dry. You’re always going to get my best effort, no matter if I’m happy or not.
“That’s what I did today. I came out there and proved I can be put in any situation. From here on out, if that’s my role, then I’ll accept it.
The good news for the Yankees in all this, though, is they are entering the final stretch of the MLB season with a suddenly burgeoning starting rotation. Not only did Schmidt have a tremendous return to the rotation after not pitching since May with a right lat strain, Luis Gil also returned from a back strain to the starting pool this weekend.
Gil pitched 6.0 innings on Friday and allowed no runs, one hit and two walks to the Cubs.
As the Yankees look ahead to arranging their starting five, it is clear that Gerrit Cole will be the ace, but all jobs after that are still up for grabs. Carlos Rodon is a probable pick for the No. 2 spot. The Yankees will likely need two starters after that, though, with Schmidt and Gil having made strong cases in their injury returns thus far.
Cortes and veteran Marcus Stroman are the other choices.
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