New Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Nestor Cortes Fully Healthy After Elbow Issues Late in Year

According to Brewers' GM Matt Arnold, Cortes has a clean bill of health heading into 2025.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park on Sept 18. / John Froschauer-Imagn Images

According to Milwaukee Brewers general manager Matt Arnold, new Brewers pitcher Nestor Cortes has a clean bill of health heading into the 2025 season.

From Brewers reporter Adam McCalvy:

Re: Nestor Cortes’ left elbow, which sidelined him from late September until a return in the World Series, he’s had a “fully healthy offseason,” according to Matt Arnold. The Brewers did extensive work on the medicals before making the deal, as the Yankees did on Williams.

Re: Nestor Cortes’ left elbow, which sidelined him from late September until a return in the World Series, he’s had a “fully healthy offseason,” according to Matt Arnold. The Brewers did extensive work on the medicals before making the deal, as the Yankees did on Williams.

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) December 13, 2024

Cortes was acquired last week in the blockbuster deal that sent All-Star closer Devin Williams to the Yankees and will immediately slot in the Brewers rotation in 2025. The 30-year-old lefty is one of the most unique pitchers in the game, complete with an array of different motions and arm angles, and should help keep the Brewers competitive in the National League Central.

He made 30 starts for the Yankees this past season, going 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA as they advanced to the World Series. He struck out 162 batters in 174.1 innings, pitching to a 1.15 WHIP as well.

Lifetime, Cortes has appeared in parts of seven different seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Yankees. He won a career-high 12 games in 2022 with the Yankees, a year in which he also made the All-Star team in the American League.

Lifetime, he's 33-21 with a 3.80 ERA. The Brewers also have Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Civale, DL Hall and Tobias Myers as candidates to start games.

Milwaukee won the National League Central in 2024.

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