Nestor Cortes shows ‘huge lift’ he can provide Yankees in strong return
After a long IL stint due to a rotator cuff strain in his left shoulder, Nestor Cortes finally made his return to the big-league mound on Saturday, and the crafty left-hander was as dominant as ever in the Yankees' 3-1 win over the Astros.
Cortes surrendered a solo home run to Jose Altuve with two outs in the top of the third, but that was it on the afternoon. He allowed just that run on the one hit while striking out eight over four strong innings of work.
Cortes, who hasn’t yet been stretched out to a full workload, threw just 64 pitches on the afternoon but he was extremely effective. He was in complete control as he generated a season-high 17 swings and misses.
“Sixty-plus days was too long,” he told reporters postgame. “We’ll see how I react tomorrow, but for now I feel good. Feeling healthy was the No. 1 priority for me and then after that also locating and commanding my pitches.
“As far as today, I was happy being healthy and being able to get out of there on a good note.”
Coming into the day, the fastest pitch Cortes had thrown this season was recorded at 94.7 mph. His first strikeout of the afternoon came in the first inning on a 95.6 mph fastball to Kyle Tucker.
The lefty said he definitely felt like he had a bit more life on his four-seamer in his first start back.
“It felt like I was a lot stronger than I was three months ago, even to start the season,” he said. “The work we’ve been putting in here and trying to get my arm in the same motion and feeling that I was in last year really helped.”
Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said getting Cortes back healthy and pitching to his full potential is a huge boost for the Bombers rotation, especially with Domingo German on the restrictive list for the remainder of the year.
“Nestor’s one of the really good ones, he’s proven that since he joined the rotation, that's the pitcher he's been,” the manager said. “It’s a huge lift for us, which is why we’ve been looking forward to getting him back.
“We know what he’s capable of and we got a glimpse of that today.”
