Today Nestor Cortes threw a live bullpen outing, his second since being placed on the IL by the Yankees with a left flexor strain, and the team is growing more and more hopeful that he could be on their World Series roster. Whether the Yankees are able to advance or not remains a variable in this conversation, but if they can secure the series with the 3-1 lead they have in hand, then they could get a massive boost to a bullpen that has shown signs of fatigue in the American League Championship Series.
Across 31 appearances, 30 of them being starts, Cortes had a 3.77 ERA and 22.8% strikeout rate, tossing a career-high 17.4 1innings and leading the rotation in WAR (3.1).
How Nestor Cortes Could Be a Huge Help for the Yankees’ Pitching Staff
Pitching is always a question mark in the postseason where usage rates swing dramatically and teams are asking their bullpens to do way more than they likely can handle. The Yankees have had to heavily rely on Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes this postseason, and that’s shown its ugly head in the last two games of the ALCS. Both have been completely outmatched by the Guardians’ offense, who has seen them at least three times each through just four games.
The Yankees will need other arms to step up on that staff, and while they got some encouraging signs from Jake Cousins and Mark Leiter Jr. they lost Ian Hamilton to an injury in Game 3. Due to how injury rules work in the postseason, any player who is removed from the roster during a round because of an injury is immediately ineligible for the round immediately following, so Hamilton’s 2024 season is officially over.
Nestor Cortes could help fill the void Hamilton left behind with his crafty arsenal, as he’ll likely only be built up for a bullpen role.
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The left-hander pitched in relief once this season, delivering 4.1 scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs on September 7th, striking out three and walking one. During his breakout season in 2021, Cortes posted a 2.29 ERA and 35.4% strikeout rate as a reliever, as he was remarkable in short spurts.
Furthermore, Nestor Cortes has been immaculate first-time-through the order this season as a starter, posting a 2.78 ERA and 28.1% K% in those situations. Across his MLB career, Cortes has a 2.46 ERA and 22.6% K-BB% first-time-through as a starter, and the Yankees could have him air it out in these shorter outings and miss bats.
During the season the left-hander developed a reliable changeup, posting a 1.58 ERA over his last seven outings while his changeup usage increased from 7.8% to 16.6%. The Yankees will play Game 5 of the ALCS tonight with Carlos Rodon going against Tanner Bibee as New York looks to end the series here and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2009.