Yankees' Aaron Boone Breaks Silence on 'Upset' Starter

New York manager made his opinion on Nestor Cortes' frustrated comments very clear.

May 30, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17, right) talks with starting pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) following the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes was not happy about being demoted to the bullpen.

After the 29-year-old made his first regular-season relief appearance since 2021 on Saturday, he said, “Obviously, I was upset. I feel like amongst all the starters, I’ve been the workhorse here. Once [Gerrit] Cole went down, they picked me to be the Opening Day starter; not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter. I had to switch my routine there, and now they do this," per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

Any time a player speaks out about being disgruntled, it will likely ruffle some feathers; especially from the team's decision-makers.

The decision maker in this instance would be Yankees manager Aaron Boone. However, Boone didn't seem too perturbed about Cortes' words.

“I don’t need everyone to be happy with everything,” Boone said Sunday morning, per the New York Post.“I want them wanting and expecting the best. It comes at a time when you gotta make difficult decisions and then it’s on all of us, on the players, to go out there and do your job and be a pro and that’s what we saw with Nestor [Saturday]."

Cortes' 163.1 innings pitched this season is the most on the Yankees' roster. The decision to send him to the bullpen is the result of both Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt returning from the IL, which has created a logjam in New York's rotation.

“Clearly he wants to be starting and certainly there’s a case for that and is now going back into the rotation," Boone added. "But we also saw a guy come out and excel in a low-scoring game and finish off a great day for us on the mound. So no, [I’m] totally OK with that.”

Even if Cortes isn't happy about his reliever role, the 4.1 no-hit innings he threw Saturday proved that he can be a massive asset out of the bullpen.

“Clearly he wants to be starting and certainly there’s a case for that and is now going back into the rotation. But we also saw a guy come out and excel in a low-scoring game and finish off a great day for us on the mound. So no, [I’m] totally OK with that," Boone said.

The current plan is for New York to employ a six-man rotation for the next week before trimming it down to five for the final two weeks of the regular season.

Time will tell what Cortes' role will be in the postseason.