The New York Yankees relegated Nestor Cortes to bullpen duty on Saturday to back up recently activated Clarke Schmidt. Cortes was not happy about the interruption to his normal starting routine, and he let the team know through the media after the game.
“Obviously I was upset,” Cortes said, per the New York Post’s Greg Joyce. “I felt like I’ve been, amongst all the starters, the workhorse here. Once Cole went down [in spring training], they picked me to be the Opening Day starter — not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter. I had to switch my routine there. Now they do this.”
Cortes used his anger to put together a brilliant outing. He came in with two outs in the fifth inning, stranding an inherited runner at third base to preserve a one-run lead. The 29-year-old finished off the game, twirling 4.1 innings of no-hit ball.
Nasty Nestor’s anger at being chosen to clean up after Schmidt is understandable on the surface. But a closer look at the Yankees’ rotation situation shows that Cortes probably should’ve just kept his hurt feelings to himself.
Based just on the numbers, there was no clear choice for Yankees manager Aaron Boone. Cortes, Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman are all pitching to an ERA around 4.00. Also, all of them had starts in which they gave up five runs in one of their two previous outings.
Gerrit Cole is the ace of the team and Luis Gil still has the best numbers in the rotation, so they were never options to be relegated to the bullpen. Boone could have emptied his bullpen rather than bothering Cortes, but overworking the bullpen as the Yankees fight the Orioles for the AL East title would’ve been too risky.
So what it comes down to (as usual) is the money. The Yankees have almost $200 million invested in Rodon and Stroman. Cortes is making $3.95 million this year and isn’t a free agent until 2026.
With a 9-10 record and an ERA that just dipped below 4.00, Cortes should have swallowed his pride. He’d be best served channeling his rage into performing well the rest of the way so he can max out his arbitration payout next season.