The New York Yankees have seen some mixed results from their pitchers through the first two rounds of the rotation, but one player who has starred in each of his outings is Nestor Cortes. Cortes, who returned to the Yankees last year after spending a season with the Mariners, has stepped up and cemented his role as the team's fifth starter. Cortes was solid last year in a relief role, and now that he's been given a starting opportunity, he's run away with the job.

As for the rest of the Yankees' rotation, we know what to expect when it comes to Gerrit Cole. More often than not he's dominating opposing hitters and throwing deep into games, though he's susceptible to implosion every now and again. Severino's injury proneness makes him something of a concern, and Taillon and Montgomery have proven to be solid mid-rotation starters.

That makes Cortes the X-factor, as the Yankees truly weren't sure what to expect when calling upon him as the fifth starter. If Cortes had been rocked for 10 runs across 8 innings in his first two starts, it wouldn't have necessarily been a huge surprise. This isn't someone who was touted as a star member of the rotation. He started last year in the minor leagues before working back to the bigs where he continued to excel. He's built off that success, landing himself a starting role and impressing through two starts.

In Sunday's outing against Baltimore, Cortes tossed 5.0 innings of work, allowing 3 hits and 0 runs, walking 1 batter, and striking out 12. He also added an immaculate inning to his tally, cementing what was an electric outing on the mound. Unfortunately, a win won't be attached to his performance, as the Yankees' bullpen surrendered 5 runs and lost the game 5-0. Across 9.1 innings this year, Cortes has not allowed a run, and has 17 strikeouts under his belt.

Still, Yankees fans have to be ecstatic about Cortes' performance. We saw what he could do last season, and he's gone and built on that display, leaving no question as to whether he's suitable to round out the rotation of a team looking to contend for a World Series. Last season, Cortes pitched 93.0 innings, recording a 2.90 ERA with 103 strikeouts and 25 walks. He featured in 22 games for the Yankees, starting 14, while coming in as a reliever 8 times.

If he keeps pitching like this, he could become the Yankees' most valuable arm before long, excluding Cole of course. Cole is obviously the bonafide ace and the face of the rotation, but anything less than an impeccable season the right-hander would be considered a failure. The expectations on Cole are that he will be a Cy Young contender each and every year that he dons the pinstripes. The conjecture surrounding Cortes was merely that the team hoped he could be a viable fifth arm for the rotation. Thus far, he's answered the call admirably.

We'll temper our expectations on Cortes a bit after just two starts, but it's worth bringing up how crucial he could be towards the Yankees' season outlook if he can continue to pitch at the level we've seen from him over the past 1-and-a-half years. New York desperately needs consistency and reliability out of their pitching staff, especially at the back end, and if Cortes can provide that, it'll be a perfect situation in the Bronx.