BY GEORGE DICKIE
From journeyman to just plain "nasty," Nestor Cortes Jr. is
the New York Yankees' feel-good story so far in 2022.
Indeed, the mustachioed left-hander with the inventive
deliveries and an itinerant career that has taken him from
Baltimore to New York to Seattle and back to New York –
twice – has emerged as the Bombers' best starter in the early
going. He's also a big reason why the team sits atop of the AL
East through the season's first five weeks.
As of mid-May, the 27-year-old Floridian owned a modest
1-1 won-lost record but with a miniscule 1.41 ERA with 42
strikeouts, 11 walks and 20 hits in 32 innings (six starts) for
a WHIP of 0.97. Included in that is the no-hitter he nearly
threw at the Texas Rangers on May 9, the only hit being a
weak bloop single by Eli White in the eighth inning of a 1-0
New York win at Yankee Stadium.
In his first three seasons in the majors, Cortes gave no
indication he was anything more than a long man, sporting a
6.72 ERA with the Orioles, Yanks and Mariners from 2018
to 2020. He'd been designated for assignment and traded for
international pool money, so the
36th round draft choice's talents
weren't exactly in high demand.
But flashes of brilliance and a
2.90 ERA in 93 innings in 2021
earned the man now known as
"Nasty Nestor" another look in
The Bronx.
The Yankees can be seen in
action Saturday, June 11, at
home against the Chicago Cubs
in a game airing on FS1.
'Nasty Nestor' emerges as a
force in the Yankee rotation
• FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 6 - 12, 2022 •
YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE TO TV ENTERTAINMENT
Jessica Camacho stars in
"All Rise," premiering its
third season Tuesday on
OWN.
