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Nasty Nestor Sharp In Second Rehab Outing For Somerset

July 29, 2023

Bridgewater, New Jersey – While the Yankees were on the road in Baltimore on Friday night to open a pivotal division series with the first place Orioles, a rehabbing Nestor Cortes toed the rubber 175 miles north in Somerset against the O’s Double-A affiliate at TD Bank Ballpark. The southpaw

Bridgewater, New Jersey – While the Yankees were on the road in Baltimore on Friday night to open a pivotal division series with the first place Orioles, a rehabbing Nestor Cortes toed the rubber 175 miles north in Somerset against the O’s Double-A affiliate at TD Bank Ballpark. The southpaw tossed four scoreless innings for the Patriots in his second outing with the team since the clock on his assignment started last Sunday.

The 2022 MLB All-Star tossed 49 pitches, 36 for strikes, on a night where he was slated to be capped at 50. Cortes began his outing by firing 14 consecutive strikes, including three straight strikeouts. In total, the 28-year-old lefty allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out five on the night.

“It felt good,” said Cortes of his outing. “I thought that I threw a lot of strikes and commanded the zones that I wanted to command and came out of it great. I’m working on command, working on feeling well – obviously I went on the IL for a shoulder so coming off here and feeling good is a plus.”

Cortes added, “I thought 49 pitches was enough for me today to get my work in and feel how I wanted to feel. I thought today was a lot better than last time out – I thought last time I was getting a little tired towards the end and I feel like this time was a lot better.”

The deceptive lefty last pitched in a big-league game nearly two months ago on May 30 before a left rotator cuff strain forced him to the IL on June 8 before ultimately being transferred to the 60-day IL on July 7. The 28-year-old Florida-native saw his first live game action last Sunday on the road in Hartford – he tossed 42 pitches (31 strikes) and allowed a run on four hits while striking out four batters over 2.1 innings of work.

Before landing on the shelf, Cortes was 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA with 59 punch outs in 59.1 innings over 11 starts for the Bombers. While his stat line may not reflect the quality of his all-star campaign from a year ago, he believes that he’s the same pitcher that can take the ball and be a difference maker as the chase for a playoff berth shifts into high gear.

“I thought the whole year while I was pitching, I pitched pretty good,” Cortes said. “I ran into some innings late in the game where it hurt me a lot where I would give up a three or five spot in the sixth or seventh inning where it might have ballooned the ERA.”

What’s next for the fan favorite dubbed Nasty Nestor? The Yankees preliminary plan for Cortes is to have a third and what they expect to be final, rehab start sometime next week. When or where that is will be determined by the organization in the coming days.

“All I know is that I have one more,” admitted Cortes. “Other than that, I have no idea. I think we’re going to push the pitch count probably eight, or nine more, before I actually get in a real game. Hopefully I’ll be pushing 60 and then after that we’ll see what happens.”

Matt Kardos | SomersetPatriots.com Beat Writer

Matt Kardos has covered the Yankees minor league system for over a decade and will spend his 11th season on the beat covering the Patriots for SomersetPatriots.com. Throughout his career, Matt has contributed to MLB.com, YES Network and Pinstriped Prospects. When he’s not at the ballpark, Matt enjoys traveling with his wife Kimberly, watching Jets football and collecting sports cards.