By Miguel Rapetti
07 Sep 2024, 22:35 PM EDT
New York Yankees left-handed pitcher Néstor Cortés did not hide his annoyance after being moved to the Yankees’ bullpen on Saturday to play as a reliever during his team’s 2-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Cortes, who ended up playing reliever but had a “starter” job, was called up from the Yankees bullpen in the fourth inning as Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt’s start came to an end.
Apparently Boone’s intention was to keep Schmidt from seeing prolonged action after recently coming off the injured list and for that reason the left-hander took possession of the ball to pitch 4.1 scoreless innings, with three strikeouts and earning his ninth win of the season (9-10, 3.97 earned run percentage).
Despite his impressive performance, Cortés did not agree with his change of role and in a strong statement complained about the decision after the match.
“Obviously I was upset. I feel like out of all the starters, I’ve been the workhorse here. Once (Gerrit) Cole went down, I was picked to be the Opening Day starter — not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter. I had to change my routine there and now they do this,” he said.
Although he was blunt in his speech, Cortés later said that the fact that he is not happy with the move does not mean that his commitment to the Yankees can be doubted, a team he believes he wants to continue with and that is why he is willing to accept what he has to do if that helps.
“I’m never going to back down from a challenge, I’m never going to leave my teammates behind. You’re always going to get my best effort, regardless of whether I’m happy or not. That’s what I did today. I just went out there and showed that I can be put in any situation, and from now on, if that’s my role, I’ll take it,” he added.
The decision to use Cortes as a long reliever is part of manager Aaron Boone’s intentions to move his pitching staff, especially after the latest failure of closer Clay Holmes, who blew a one-run lead against the Texas Rangers during the week and culminated with a grand slam to close the game 7-4 in favor of the Texans.
Boone then began using Luke Weaver as a rescuer and this very Friday he responded by earning the save by working the final inning of the Bronx’s 3-0 victory at Wrigley Field.
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