Nestor Cortes

Nestor Cortes

29-Year-Old PitcherSP
New York Yankees
2024 Fantasy Outlook
The crafty lefty cemented his spot in the Yankees' starting rotation in 2022 with a 2.44 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 163:38 K:BB across 158.1 innings, but he made just 12 starts in 2023 due to a rotator cuff strain. Cortes also struggled when available last season and finished with a 4.97 ERA over 63.1 innings to go along with a 1.6 HR/9 and a career-worst 40.1 percent hard-hit rate. A 3.71 xERA indicates some unfortunate results, while a 4.84 xFIP paints a less favorable underlying picture. Cortes' reliance on different arm angles and deliveries leaves less margin for error on his pitches, especially since his stuff doesn't really stand out. It also makes him more difficult to evaluate, as the numbers themselves tell less of a story than with most pitchers. A positive regression seems likely in 2024, but Cortes' lack of year-to-year track record leaves some risk coming off a poor campaign. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#238
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $3.95 million contract with the Yankees in January of 2024.
Nine strikeouts in no-decision
PNew York Yankees
September 12, 2024
Cortes came away with the no-decision in Thursday's 2-1 win over the Red Sox. He pitched five innings and allowed one run on three hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. 
ANALYSIS
Cortes matched a season-high with nine strikeouts Thursday, which came on the heels of his first relief outing since 2021 last weekend. The left-hander is now back in the rotation with the Yankees going to a six-man unit for the stretch run. Outside of his Sept. 1 start versus the Cardinals when he gave up five runs, Cortes has now allowed one run or less in five of his last six appearances. The 29-year-old will take a 3.90 ERA and 1.15 WHIP into his next start, which tentatively lines up to come at Seattle.
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Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
92
Last 10 Games
89
Last 5 Games
83
How many pitches does Nestor Cortes generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Nestor Cortes generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-30%
BAA vs LHP
2024
 
 
-23%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-38%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-46%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2022vs Left .166 285 89 18 44 7 0 5
Since 2022vs Right .236 1281 297 76 281 74 0 46
2024vs Left .200 151 42 9 28 5 0 2
2024vs Right .260 535 114 27 130 38 0 22
2023vs Left .163 45 14 2 7 1 0 2
2023vs Right .261 220 53 18 52 14 0 9
2022vs Left .110 89 33 7 9 1 0 1
2022vs Right .202 526 130 31 99 22 0 15
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-31%
ERA at Home
2024
 
 
-35%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-17%
ERA at Home
2022
 
 
-36%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2022Home 2.89 0.96 214.2 13 6 0 8.8 1.9 1.0
Since 2022Away 4.21 1.21 175.1 13 10 0 9.1 2.5 1.4
2024Home 3.11 1.00 89.2 5 5 0 8.3 1.4 1.2
2024Away 4.81 1.32 78.2 4 5 0 8.4 2.5 1.4
2023Home 4.58 1.18 37.1 2 0 0 8.9 2.2 1.4
2023Away 5.54 1.35 26.0 3 2 0 10.4 3.8 1.7
2022Home 1.95 0.82 87.2 6 1 0 9.1 2.4 0.5
2022Away 3.06 1.05 70.2 6 3 0 9.4 1.9 1.4
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Nestor Cortes compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
4.33
 
K/9
8.3
 
BB/9
1.9
 
HR/9
1.3
 
Fastball
92.1 mph
 
ERA
3.90
 
WHIP
1.15
 
BABIP
.296
 
GB/FB
0.67
 
Left On Base
74.8%
 
Exit Velocity
82.3 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
5.0%
 
Spin Rate
2300 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
25.5%
 
Swinging Strike
11.4%
 
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
If you go back and look at Cortes's 2022 outlook, you can see he teased at what was possible, but without a large body of work, everyone was right to be skeptical of what Cortes would be as a starter. Those who took the chance in the late rounds were greatly rewarded by one of the best late round steals in 2022 as the lefty picked up where he left off in 2021 for most of the 2022 season. Cortes uses varying arm angles, deliveries, and pitches to frustrate hitters all season. 75% of what he threw were four-seamer and cutters, and those two pitches were paired so well that the league hit below .200 against both pitches while all five of his offerings had whiff rates above 20%. In 330 innings of work, he has a career 80% LOB rate and a .266 BABIP, so his 2022 numbers ( 79%, .243) are not terribly out of line and a continuation of what he did in 2021. The stuff is not paritcularly special, but his ability to spin and sequence it is certainly special and being a lefty in Yankee Stadium doesn't hurt either. The big question is if he can put up consecutive seasons of workload as he has never done so.
Cortes, when not running around Mushroom Kingdom attempting to avoid Bowser, enjoyed a surprising season for the Yankees. It was his second stint with the club, but this time he worked as a bandaid in the rotation rather than in low-leverage situations. He used a variety of arm angles, timing mechanisms and pitches making the most of his below-average stuff to effectively disrupt the timing of the opposing hitters. He is a throwback to the pitching of 30 years ago when guys relied on location and guile rather than velocity; somehow the league hit .196 off his fastball (.189 xBA!) when the pitch averaged 90.7 mph. Pitching where he does, and in the division he does, leaves Cortes with a thin margin for error, and he's been susceptible to the long ball throughout his career (2.0 HR/9 career rate). Cortes is really only rosterable if he were to secure a starting rotation spot in spring training.
More Fantasy News
Back in rotation Thursday
PNew York Yankees
September 12, 2024
Cortes is slated to start Thursday's game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
ANALYSIS
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Earns win in relief
PNew York Yankees
September 7, 2024
Cortes (9-10) was the pitcher of record in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Cubs, allowing one walk and no hits with three strikeouts over 4.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
ANALYSIS
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Poised for relief outing
PNew York Yankees
September 3, 2024
Cortes is expected to pitch behind Luis Gil (back) or Clarke Schmidt (lat) on Friday or Saturday, respectively, against the Cubs before being reinserted into the Yankees' rotation next week, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Roughed up in no-decision
PNew York Yankees
September 1, 2024
Cortes escaped with a no-decision in Sunday's loss to the Cardinals, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two in four innings.
ANALYSIS
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Sharp performance in win
PNew York Yankees
August 26, 2024
Cortes (8-10) got the win Monday, giving up four hits over 6.2 innings in a 5-2 victory over the Nationals. He struck out five and walked two batters.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Being dangled in trade talks
PNew York Yankees
July 29, 2024
Cortes' name is "definitely out there" in trade talks, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
ANALYSIS
Cortes was mentioned previously as a potential target for the Cardinals in a deal that would send Tommy Edman to the Yankees. While Heyman wasn't able to confirm that connection, it does appear the Yankees are willing to trade the left-hander. Cortes has faltered of late in allowing 15 runs over his last three starts, but he's had a solid 2024 season on the whole in posting a 4.13 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 116:26 K:BB in 124.1 innings covering 22 starts. The 29-year-old is making $3.95 million this season and has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining.
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