The New York Yankees wanted to finish their series against the Los Angeles Angels on a positive note, and after rookie Will Warren’s dismal start in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, they turned to the more veteran southpaw Nestor Cortes. However, few things appear to go as planned for the Yankees’ rotation these days.
Cortes gave six earned runs in 4.1 innings of work, and the Yankees couldn’t generate enough offense to compensate for his poor start. In the end, the Yankees lost 9-4 to the Angels, but the silver lining is that the Baltimore Orioles did not win tonight, keeping New York tied for the AL East division lead.
It is safe to say that the Yankees’ starting pitching situation is not ideal right now. However, despite a couple tough starts, manager Aaron Boone is confident in his club and feels it has what it takes to contend.
“We have everything we need,” Boone said of the Yankees’ rotation, according to Max Goodman of NJ.com.
Aaron Boone also mentioned that Nestor Cortes was throwing nice pitches but couldn’t finish out opposing batters. Furthermore, the Yankees should be receiving some reinforcements back soon, with Clarke Schmidt still recovering from the lat injury that pushed him to the 60-day injured list.
However, games against clubs outside of playoff contention should be the Yankees’ to capitalize on, and it will be impossible not to view this game against the Angels as a squandered opportunity.
Nestor Cortes has slowed down for the Yankees.
Nestor Cortes started 2024 pitching like a man on a mission, as did the rest of the Yankees’ rotation. After an injury-plagued 2023 season, seeing Cortes get off to a good start is a sight for sore eyes for those who feel he can return to his All-Star form from 2022.
Cortes’ last five starts, however, have been uninspiring to say the least. Cortes has only allowed fewer than three runs in a start once since June 23, and in his five most recent starts, he has allowed a total of 24 earned runs in 23.1 innings of work, for an unappealing 9.26 ERA.
It was a bit of a startling event when the Yankees apparently made Nestor Cortes available in a trade. The agreement they had in place was to bring in Gold Glove-caliber shortstop Tommy Edman, a move that was reliant on their purchase of Jack Flaherty. But the Yankees elected to hold pat past the trade deadline, not acquiring any starting pitching reinforcements.
Will the Yankees regret their decision to not bolster their starting rotation? If the Yankees’ starters don’t endure any positive regression, then it will be difficult for them to contend far into the postseason. Nonetheless, they have Aaron Boone’s full support, and having your captain believe in you must count for something.
“I don’t think Nestor is that far off. It just comes down to finalizing the execution. [Marcus Stroman], we need to get some momentum going. We have the personnel to go out there. It’s simply getting a few players going and moving to the next level of execution,” Boone said, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
