Yankees southpaw willing to take risk to pitch in World Series

New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Yankees southpaw willing to take significant risk to pitch in World Series

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated Oct 22, 2024 3:56 PM ET

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said last week that pitcher Nestor Cortes was possibly on the verge of returning from his elbow injury and may be an option for the team if they advanced to the World Series.

With Game 1 of the Fall Classic between the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers set for Friday night, it was reported on Tuesday that the southpaw was expected to be on the roster for the series.

Cortes discussed his potential participation in the World Series, admitting just how significant of a risk he was willing to take in order to be available.

Nestor Cortes expects to be on the #Yankees’ roster for the World Series.

He threw live today (28 pitches) and is feeling sore, but as long as he responds well when he wakes up tomorrow, he thinks he’ll be good to go for Game 1.
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) October 22, 2024

Nestor Cortes on the risks involved:

"We have weighed in the consequences that this can lead up to, but if I have a ring and then a year off from baseball, then so be it." #Yankees https://t.co/WJ8dUxPhQK
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) October 22, 2024

Ace Gerrit Cole is slated to toe the rubber for New York on Friday in Los Angeles and Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and/or Luis Gil are among the likely options for Games 2-4. That leaves "Nasty Nestor" in line for a spot in the Yankees bullpen.

The 29-year-old Cortes hasn't pitched in a game in more than a month, with his most recent outing came on Sept. 18, when he hurled six innings against the Seattle Mariners.

The 2022 All-Star was placed on the 15-day injured list in late September, closing an inconsistent regular season where he finished 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.15 WHIP across 174 1/3 innings.

While Cortes has experience as both a starter (86 games) and a reliever (49 games), all but one of his appearances out of the bullpen came before 2022.

He made his only relief appearance in 2024 on Sept. 7 against the Chicago Cubs, working 4 1/3 hitless, scoreless frames while striking out three and walking one.

Victor Barbosa

Victor Barbosa is a passionate follower of MLB, the NBA and NFL, with a deep interest in Boston-area teams. He graduated from Springfield College -- The Birthplace of Basketball -- in 2013 with a degree in Communications-Sports Journalism. Previous bylines include FanSided, Heavy and Syracuse

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