“Nasty Nestor” Cortes hasn't been very nasty recently. The 29-year-old has allowed 11 runs in his last two starts for the New York Yankees, including Saturday's 9-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cortes admitted that the outing was unacceptable, via YES Network.
“Yeah, it's tough,” he said. “It's tough to pitch in the big leagues when you don't have your best stuff. I felt like early on it was pretty good, and then lost a little bit of the outside part of the plate with the fastball and got behind in the count a lot.”
Cortes allowed just one run in the first three innings but lost his mojo in the fourth and fifth frames. The 2013 36th-round draft pick finished with six earned runs allowed across 4.1 innings, including three homers.
“Yeah I mean, this is a team that I've faced quite a few times already, and they know what my strengths are,” Cortes continued. “It's about being able to command and spot your pitches more than anything else, and that's what it came down to today, I felt like I didn't locate as best as I can.”
Cortes walked Rays' nine-hole hitter Austin Jackson in the third, who is currently hitting .091. Designated hitter Curtis Mead then drove Jackson home on an RBI double.
The bottom of Tampa Bay's lineup then delivered a devastating blow in the fourth inning. Cortes walked eight-hole hitter Taylor Walls, who's hitting .154, before Jackson smacked a three-run blast.
“Yeah, the walks hurt you,” Cortes said. “You walk the nine-hole, you walk the bottom of the lineup and you give a chance for the lineup to turn over. That's not ideal, so yeah, just gotta be better.”
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Cortes' subpar performance was especially ill-timed, considering he had already bothered New York's fanbase with his tweet on Tuesday, via X, formerly known as “Twitter.”
“Everyone talks down about the yanks but they wanna be us,” he tweeted. “It’s a privilege to wear pinstripes. Every year we are in contention. I’m blessed to be able to compete for a playoff spot and always be contenders at the end.”
While Cortes' heart may have been in the right place, he may not have realized that Yankee fans don't accept anything less than championship rings. Gary Sheffield Jr., son of former Yankee great Garry Sheffield, replied to the tweet.
“Unfortunately, being ‘in contention every year' isn’t the goal,” Sheffield explained. “You guys gotta win more than once in 15 years to talk about jealousy. Reality is that Boston has put up banners and customized rings while we won regular season ball games and sold chicken buckets. Get it done 👍🏽.”
Despite Cortes' recent blunders, he's the least of New York's problems. The southpaw is 4-9 with a 3.99 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, to go with 111 strikeouts in 119.2 innings. Those are far from elite numbers, but they're acceptable for a middle-of-the-rotation hurler.
The Yankees, however, continue to struggle offensively. With a one-run performance on Saturday, New York's front office got served another reminder that the team lacks reliable hitters outside of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and the injured Giancarlo Stanton.
Cortes even admitted that he expects incoming reinforcements at the trade deadline, which is telling, as players often prefer to shy away from front-office discussions.
“I'm sure the front office is gonna do something to make this team better…we're one game, maybe two games back after today,” Cortes said. “You know, everybody's been saying how bad we've been playing, but you look across the league and see we're right there with them. I think we're at 59 wins, which is tied for the most wins in the American League. This team is just a tick away from being great.”
The Florida native is correct, as the Yankees' 59 wins are tied with the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians for the most in the AL, pending the latter two teams' games on Saturday night. However, most of New York's winning was done earlier in the season, as the Bombers have lost 19 of their last 30 contests.
If the Yankees don't add another bat or two by July 30th, they can expect Baltimore and Cleveland to pass them by.
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