NEW YORK — Switch to a different role. Pitch for the first time in a month with some concern still lingering for your elbow. Be prepared in case your first at-bat is against perhaps the best hitter in the game in Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. And do it all in the World Series.
Got it, Nestor Cortes?
“It’s going to be a tough task,” the New York Yankees left-hander said Tuesday. “But it’s what’s at hand now.”
The Yankees will likely activate Cortes for the first time in the playoffs before Game 1 of the World Series in Los Angeles on Friday.
Cortes threw 28 pitches in a simulated game during the team’s workout at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. He said he felt normal soreness afterward. Does he expect to be activated if he doesn’t feel any abnormal soreness Wednesday morning?
“As of now, yes,” he said, “(though) I still haven’t gotten the official word.”
Throughout the playoffs and for much of the regular season, the Yankees lacked a reliever whose primary goal was to get strikeouts. Cortes fits that bill, and as a lefty, he could prove to be the Yankees’ best threat against Ohtani, the likely National League MVP after hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases as a designated hitter.
“It’s going to be tough,” Cortes said. “I’m going to have to give him different looks.”
In 12 career at-bats, Cortes has held Ohtani to two hits (.167) with one strikeout.
In 636 at-bats this season, Ohtani hit .310 with a .390 on-base percentage and a 1.036 OPS. But southpaws held him to a .288 average with a .349 OBP and a .867 OPS in 226 at-bats.
In 2021, Cortes went viral when he faced Ohtani and went into his bag of tricks, using a funky leg tap, a slow leg kick, a quick pitch and a sidearm delivery all in the same at-bat.
2021 Messing with Timing PitchingNinja Award! 😂🏆
Winner: Nestor Cortes (vs Shohei Ohtani)
See, Satchel Paige, Luis Tiant, Cueto, Stroman, Robles and Nasty Nestor.
Watch Full Video! –> https://t.co/xtmOn5Djng pic.twitter.com/bE8ZbCe6up
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) December 2, 2021
Cortes even provided a glimpse into how he might mess with Ohtani this time around, though it could have also been yet another misdirection.
“Probably throw changeups,” he said. “I never throw changeups to lefties, but I’ll probably throw changeups in these circumstances.”
Ohtani typically may lead off for the Dodgers, with righty Mookie Betts behind him and dangerous lefty Freddie Freeman in the No. 3 spot.
“They’re not going to bring me in to face righties,” Cortes said. “I know those are the guys I’m going to face.”
Pitching coach Matt Blake said Cortes could fill lots of roles.
“Whether it’s matching up with lefties, finding a middle-leverage pocket in the middle of the game, (or) open him in one of the games, I think he’s as versatile as anybody on our staff to get lefties and righties out,” Blake said, adding that the team hadn’t actually discussed the possibility of using Cortes as an opener yet.
“He’s got some swing and miss,” Blake continued. “He’s not scared. It’ll probably just be a matter of how he’s bouncing back and how much volume he could hold.”
This season, Cortes was a key part of the Yankees’ starting rotation, going 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts. He made one relief appearance in September as the Yankees were considering a bullpen role for him in the playoffs before his injury. But Cortes has made 49 career relief appearances and isn’t worried about reverting to the role.
It’s unclear what kind of workload Cortes could handle considering he hasn’t pitched for so long.
“Being in the World Series,” he said, “I don’t think there’s days off.”
He said he was careful in his decision to return to pitching after not throwing for 10 days after he was diagnosed with the flexor strain, which could be a precursor to Tommy John surgery. The procedure could sideline a pitcher for more than a year.
Before starting his rehab, Cortes said he consulted with his family and his agents, and that the Yankees’ training staff took it day by day with him. There was even discussion, he said, of activating him when righty Ian Hamilton strained his calf during the American League Championship Series vs. the Cleveland Guardians, but general manager Brian Cashman said no, not wanting Cortes to miss any steps in his recovery.
“I could pitch this World Series and be good and then go into spring training and blow out and not expect it,” he said. “So, I guess the World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime thing — hopefully not for this team. But given the circumstance and knowing how important this is, not only wanting to pitch but I feel like there is a need in my left hand and facing those left-handed batters over there, it’s going to be important for me to be healthy and be effective.”
To Cortes, the risk is worth it.
“If I have a ring and then a year off of baseball,” he said, “so be it.”
(Photo of Nestor Cortes: Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)
