Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Can't Capitalize on Best Start of Nestor Cortes' Career

Cortes set a new career high with 12 strikeouts in Baltimore on Sunday, throwing an immaculate inning in a shutout loss.

Max Goodman

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BALTIMORE — As the Yankees continue to struggle offensively through the first week and a half of the regular season, it's hard to focus on the positives. 

New York managed just four hits in a shutout loss to the Orioles on Sunday afternoon, dropping two of three in their first series against the lowly opponent in 2022. The bullpen, a unit that's been lights-out to start this year, finally collapsed, giving up five runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a scoreless tie. 

In the interest of not sounding like a broken record, however, let's give it a shot.

Sunday's infuriating loss also featured the best performance of Nestor Cortes' big-league career, an outing that deserves some recognition.

The Yankees left-hander looked like an ace in Oriole Park at Camden Yards, mowing down Orioles hitters across five scoreless frames. Not only did the southpaw set a new career high with 12 strikeouts, but he twirled the ninth immaculate inning in Yankees franchise history, striking out the side on nine pitches in the bottom of the fourth.

Again, as the Yankees quietly packed their belongings in the visitor's clubhouse on Sunday, the elephant in the room was this team reverting to the same woeful tendencies that led to an early postseason exit last fall. Nonetheless, manager Aaron Boone and some players took the time to address Cortes' masterpiece.

"Nestor was great," Boone said. "I actually thought early on, he wasn't totally sharp, but was making big pitches and then I thought he got into a groove there in about the third, fourth and fifth inning where he was pretty special. Really dialed in his command, I thought, the stuff was good. Another really strong outing by Nestor."

Cortes revealed that he was having trouble gripping the baseball early on. It was chilly in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon with plenty of wind. 

Once the temperature heated up, so did Cortes.

The funky lefty struck out the side in the second before retiring nine batters in a row from the third to through the end of the fifth. He was lifted from the ballgame in the sixth after surrendering a single to leadoff man Austin Hays, just the third hit he allowed on Sunday.

"After I want to say the third inning, I was on a roll, commanding every pitch for strikes and putting away hitters early," Cortes said. "It's unfortunate we didn't come out with a W today, but it is what it is."

Cortes threw 88 pitches on Sunday. The Orioles swung and missed at 15 of those offerings, taking 19 called strikes. 

The 27-year-old's cutter played a key role in Sunday's sparkling start. Cortes threw it nearly 50 percent of the time (36 cutters to be exact), getting a swing and miss or a called strike on 17 of them.

Eight of Cortes' strikeouts came on his cutter as well, many of which nestled into Kyle Higashioka's glove behind the plate after clipping the outside corner. 

"I was able to command it to both sides of plate," Cortes explained. "I think hitters off me are expecting inside cutters. I was able to manage that outer rail with the cutter, kind of backdooring it a little bit."

Cortes doesn't light up the radar gun. He's an artist on the mound, overcoming his deficiencies in velocity with his command and craftsmanship, suddenly altering his timing or arm slot while wheeling and dealing toward the plate. 

After all, they don't call him Nasty Nestor for nothing.

"He's a major league pitcher, he gets guys out," Aaron Judge told reporters at his locker after the loss. "He's something special. What he did last year wasn't a flute. He knows how to pitch, it doesn't surprise me at all."

Last season, Cortes was one of New York's most reliable hurlers, posting a 2.90 ERA across 22 appearances (30 earned runs and 103 strikeouts in 93 innings pitched) and earning a spot in the rotation.

So far this season, Cortes has shoved 9.1 scoreless frames with 17 strikeouts and just six hits allowed. 

On Sunday, his performance didn't translate to a tally in the win column, but if Cortes can continue to deal at the bottom of New York's rotation, he'll be an invaluable member of this pitching staff, helping to take this team where it wants to go.

Then again, the Yankees need to score runs, too. After an off day on Monday, New York will have a chance to turn this slump around with a three-game set in Detroit.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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