TAMPA, Fla. — It took Nestor Cortes a while to figure it out. The Cuban native, who grew up outside of Miami and was picked by the Yankees in the 36th round of the 2013 draft, spent the first five years of his professional pitching career just trying not to get released. In the last three, he’s taken a deeper look at himself as a pitcher and like the Yankees, found out he’s more than the guy who uses the funky delivery to create deception.
Cortes is a good pitcher, who knows how to do the job as both a starter and a reliever and for the Yankees that is going to be critical this year.
“I think it’s huge,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said of Cortes’ versatility. “It’s like, the more guys that we can create flexibility with gives us more ways to align them to get into situations that fit their skill set. So you know could be just being creative in the bullpen with how we’re using our back-end guys and trying to spread the workload a little bit better this year.”
Cortes piggybacked Jameson Taillon on Monday. He retired all six batters he faced, including striking out Phillies slugger Bryce Harper on an 86 mile per hour changeup. The Yankees intend to stretch him out like a starter with the plan he be available for the rotation or out of the bullpen.
After the journey he took to get to the big leagues, Cortes is happy for any role.
“I was a 36th rounder, I’m 5-10 and throw 90 miles per hour,” Cortes said. “For me, it was like, living day by day trying not to get released. I signed in 2013 and the first three or four years were like, ‘I need to prove myself’ And even then, like, I had my second, third and fourth year were really good, but it’s still coming into fifth year. Like, I couldn’t take things lightly and I couldn’t think about developing pitches. My five years in the minors were “get outs, get outs, get outs’ That’s my mentality.”
In 14 starts last season, Cortes pitched to a 3.07 ERA. Out of the bullpen he had a 2.29 ERA. This spring is the first that Cortes isn’t coming to camp with an uphill battle for a roster spot. He’s proven to the Yankees that he can do the job of getting outs.
“I think he’s probably a starter until he’s not,” Blake said. “I think the nice thing is he is versatile. He can kind of collapse into a long guy, he can get lefties out, and it doesn’t bother him other than just the mental approach to what he is getting ready for.”
It is simple for Cortes. The bottom line is just getting outs and he’s been doing it at different levels for the last seven years.
“It taught me how to get guys out in different ways,” he said. “Maybe if I would have gone the other route, maybe I would have just had three pitches, and I would have been like every other pitcher. So it kind of made me unique.”
What made Cortes unique initially was his funky deliveries. He’d use different arm slots, wind ups and timings to deceive hitters. In 2019, when he had his first success in the big leagues with the Yankees, Cortes became an internet sensation for his offbeat deliveries.
But he’s a better pitcher than just that.
“It seems like he’s more confident in attacking the hitters without having to overly rely on the deception and the tricks, which are still in his bag, but not doesn’t have to be the feature,” Blake said. “So I think he can be confident and attack with his fastball, pitching to areas and just knowing that we believe that he can have success. So it’s not like he’s hoping to survive here anymore. And we’re going to give him a lot of rope and at least continue to go to him. I think the should feel like he fits in with this group more. He’s earned it.”
He’s starting to get that.
But he’s not expecting anything going into this season. He refuses to change his mindset.
“I don’t want to think that I have a spot just because it keeps me on the edge,” Cortes said. “But it feels nice to come here and here and you know everybody recognizes you. The big guys say hi to you and stuff like that. So it’s cool to feel that way, but at the same time I want to stay level and keep doing my thing.”
