The Yankees are starting to get a few of their guys back for the regular season that’s just around the corner. One of the key contributors last season was Nestor Cortes, and he’s in line to make his spring debut Sunday against the Blue Jays. It’ll be great to have Nestor back, and hopefully, this season, he’ll be able to build on the success he had last year.
Max Goodman, of NJ.com, stated that Nestor will be ready to roll come Saturday. He wrote, “While two other Yankees starting pitchers are settling in for stints on the injured list, left-hander Nestor Cortes is preparing to make his first spring training appearance in 2023, working to ensure he’s ready for the beginning of the regular season.”
Max Goodman, NJ Advanced Media
Having Nestor in the rotation is huge to start the season, and it also comes at a dire time, as the Yanks are already baffling injuries left and right. The People’s Ace captured fans’ love and attention last season when he put together the best season of his career and turned heads whilst doing so. He was initially slated to pitch in the WBC but was forced to withdraw when he suffered his hamstring injury.
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Nestor showed up and showed out in a breakout 2022 campaign
Now, we get to finally see what Nestor has in store for 2023. He hurled 158.1 innings last season and posted a 2.44 ERA with a 3.13 FIP. On top of that, he struck out 9.27 batters per, allowed a sub-1.00 HR/9 — 0.97, and he posted an astounding ERA- of 63. He was simply electric and did so with style.
Nestor’s shimmies and shenanigans he’d pull out on the bump made him one of a kind. There are few pitchers in baseball that can pull out tricks on the mound and still be lights out. Nestor is one of them. He does everything and then some, and having him back will be a huge boost for the team to start the season. As aforementioned, the team is already battling injuries and having to test their depth, but Nasty Nestor is ready to rock.
Hopefully, his cutter and slider, that he was completely dominant with last season, are back and just as good. I don’t doubt that last year was just the beginning of Nestor’s dominance. If he can put together another season like last year, then the $3.2 million he’s making this season will be a phenomenal value. He’s truly a one-of-a-kind guy and pitcher, and you can see how much it means to him to be pitching at this level and for the New York Yankees.
I can’t wait to see what Nestor works on on Sunday, and if everything works out, he’s able to slot into the rotation as the season begins. The Yankees may want to ease him into things a bit, but knowing Nestor, he’ll be 100% ready in two weeks. I’m expecting big things from Cortes, and I feel like we haven’t seen the best of him. He has such a good pitch repertoire and mixes them nicely with some confusion and an excellent arm slot that he releases from. It’s great to have Nestor back, and Sunday, we’ll see what he has in store for 2023.