Following the news that Nestor Cortes would undergo an MRI on his left elbow, the Yankees have placed him on the injured list with a left flexor strain. While initially, a 15-day IL trip would seem positive, it does not mean the left-hander is out of the woods yet. The Yankees placed Jonathan Loaisiga on the 15-day IL with a flexor strain before concluding that he had a torn ligament in his elbow that would end his season. Cody Poteet will come up in Cortes’ place, with Marcus Stroman getting the nod for a start tonight against Baltimore.
This elbow injury could have both short-term and long-term implications for Nestor Cortes’ future with the Yankees.
Cody Poteet Called Up As the Yankees Place Nestor Cortes on the IL
Losing Nestor Cortes could have serious effects on the Yankees playoff plans, as the left-hander had a 3.77 ERA across 174.1 innings, the most he’s ever thrown in a single season. The left-hander led the Yankees in innings pitched and FanGraphs’ WAR (3.2), pitching even better down the stretch as he had earned serious consideration for a spot in the postseason rotation.
At the very least, he was considered a valuable left-handed option for the bullpen, but now his 2024 and 2025 seasons are in jeopardy. A flexor strain can indicate a much more serious injury related to the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL), and any damage there usually results in season-ending Tommy John Surgery. With Cortes entering his final year of arbitration in 2025, the Yankees could end up non-tendering him if the injury ends his 2025 campaign as well.
In his place, the Yankees will call up Cody Poteet, a veteran right-hander who has pitched well at the Major League and Triple-A levels this season.
READ MORE: Yankees expected to lean on recently recovered pitcher to fill Nestor Cortes’s void
He posted a 2.14 ERA with 13 strikeouts across 4 starts when Clarke Schmidt went down with a shoulder injury, but he too would hit the IL with a shoulder problem of his own. He made six MiLB starts in Double-A and Triple-A before being placed on the 40-man roster this past week and officially activated from his rehab assignment and the IL.
The Yankees will have Marcus Stroman fill in for Nestor Cortes tonight as the starter, as the right-hander has spent the last two turns through the rotation as a reliever. While not the force he was in previous seasons, the hope is that he can provide one more quality outing and help the Yankees clinch the AL East title at home in front of their fans. All New York needs is one win or one loss from the Orioles to secure both the division and a first-round bye.