The Yankees have punched their ticket to the postseason however are dealing with a doubtlessly worrisome damage situation, as lefty Nestor Cortes — who had been slated to start out tonight’s sport in opposition to the Orioles — is present process an MRI to judge his left elbow, as first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Community.
Assuming that takes him out of consideration to take the mound, the Yanks might go along with Marcus Stroman (who lately moved to the ’pen) or name up an arm from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Proper-handers Cody Poteet, Yoendrys Gomez and Will Warren are all on the 40-man roster and all recent. Poteet has pitched probably the most massive league innings of that trio this season (21) and had probably the most success as nicely (2.14 ERA). Curry provides that Poteet is headed to the Bronx, suggesting he’ll get the nod, although there’s no official phrase from the crew simply but.
Cortes, 29, has pitched a career-high 174 1/3 innings within the majors this season and been fairly efficient alongside the best way. He’s began 30 video games (additionally a career-high) and notched a 3.77 earned run common whereas fanning a strong 22.8% of his opponents in opposition to a terrific 5.5% stroll price. Although he’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher (31.1% grounder price), Cortes has scaled again on a number of the house run troubles which have plagued him in his profession; he entered the season having averaged 1.49 round-trippers per 9 innings pitched however has scaled that again to a extra palatable (however nonetheless greater than common) 1.24 mark in 2024.
It’s not clear that Cortes can be part of the Yankees’ postseason rotation, however he’d definitely play a key function within the bullpen even when the crew opted to go along with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and one among Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt within the prime three spots. (Cole and Rodon are locks, well being allowing.) Cortes isn’t any stranger to working in reduction. He’s primarily been a starter in current seasons however has nonetheless seen 37% of his profession appearances are available in a reduction setting.
The Yankees have a pair of veteran left-handed choices within the ’pen regardless, with Tim Hill and Tim Mayza each on the roster, however neither can miss bats on the identical degree as Cortes. Mayza additionally carries alarming platoon splits, making him extra superb for strict left-on-left matchups. Cortes would even be an apparent choice to offer supervisor Aaron Boone some size out of the bullpen within the occasion of a brief begin throughout postseason play.
All of these situations at the moment are on maintain because the Yankees await phrase on Cortes’ apparently ailing elbow. Taking a step again to take a look at the larger image for Cortes himself, a severe damage can be about as poorly timed as potential (not that there’s ever a “good” time for a significant well being setback). He’s headed into his closing offseason of arbitration eligibility and due a elevate on this 12 months’s $3.95MM wage. An damage that threatens a good portion of his 2025 season might go away Cortes as a non-tender candidate, provided that he’s slated to grow to be a free agent following the 2025 season. And, if there’s something at play that impacts his 2025 availability, that’d clearly reduce quick what must be his platform season upfront of free company, the place he’d stand as a transparent candidate for a multi-year cope with good well being.
