Baseball is a game of rhythm. This is why the effectiveness of starting pitchers decline the more they pitch through the opponent's batting order. Thus, in a game where deception and craftiness reign supreme, New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes stands out among the rest.

However, a quick glance at his pitching repertoire reveals nothing groundbreaking: Nestor Cortes predominantly throws a 92-mph four-seamer, 87-mph cutter, and a 77-mph slider. So how does Cortes manage to perform at such a high level? The answer is simple, yet difficult to master. He changes his arm slot on the regular to keep opponents on their toes.

Aaron Boone has the utmost belief in the 27-year old southpaw, giving him the ball for the Yankees' Game 2 tilt against the Cleveland Guardians. In fact, Boone showered Nestor Cortes with high praise, which should only bode well for his playoff debut.

“You feel like you could probably do what he does,” Boone said. “You can’t.”

Tommy Phelps, who was Nestor Cortes' then coach in Triple-A, gushed about how Cortes' mastery of mixing up the angles and timings through which he releases his pitches has made him one of the more difficult pitchers to figure out in the league, making his performances seem more of an improv play than a pitching display.

“When you add in his ability to vary his times, his quick step to the plate, pausing, starting, it gets out of hitters’ routine and out of their comfort zone, so they’re thinking of other things before they hit,” Phelps said, per The Athletic. “It definitely adds the benefit of mentally disrupting their focus because now they’re having to find ways to compete against him more than what they’re having to do against everyone else. It’s a big part of his effectiveness.”

Cortes revealed that the key to his performances is maintaining his balance, which has then allowed him to emerge as an All-Star level talent.

“The only thought is to just keep my balance,” Cortes said. “I don’t want to get off balance. My thought process is to stay on balance and then start moving to do whatever I want to do. But the balance is key. I think the thought process of keeping my mind right to just focus on balancing helps me do everything I want to make a competitive pitch.”

In 2022, Nestor Cortes posted a sterling 2.44 ERA in 158.1 innings pitched to go along with 163 strikeouts, en route to a 3.6 WAR per Fangraphs, and Yankees fans will be hoping for more of the same in the postseason.