Yankees fielders appreciate how fast Nestor Cortes works

BALTIMORE — Nestor Cortes is among the most popular players in the Yankees’ clubhouse for a variety of reasons.

Not the least of which is the lefthander’s utter humility in the face of his come-from-nowhere journey, which essentially established him as a solid starting pitcher in the second half of last season. Now he's a candidate for the American League Cy Young Award.

After allowing one run in a career-best eight innings in the Yankees' 5-1 victory over the White Sox in Chicago on Sunday, Cortes is 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA — the lowest mark in the AL — and an 0.85 WHIP in seven starts.

But there’s more to his popularity than that.

Cortes works extremely fast, making him, fielders say, a joy to play behind. Sunday’s game, for instance, lasted a crisp 2 hours, 32 minutes.

Not all of Cortes’ starts result in games that quick, but how he goes about his business doesn’t change. That business is accomplished at a brisk pace; Cortes doesn’t take much time in delivering to the plate after getting the return throw from the catcher.

“It’s so fun to play defense behind him,” Joey Gallo said. “He works fast, throws strikes. I’m really glad he’s on our team and I don’t have to face him.”

Josh Donaldson, who played for five teams previously, compared Cortes to another notorious fast worker from one of those teams — lefthander Mark Buehrle, with whom the third baseman played in Toronto.

“It was fun. I felt like I could barely get from the dugout to the field in time and he was ready to go,” Donaldson said of Sunday’s game. “It almost reminded me of [Buehrle], just getting it going, changing speeds, getting ground balls. Action early. He forced them to start swinging the bat and we were making some plays behind him.”

Why do defenders prefer pitchers who work fast?

“It keeps you involved,” Gallo said. “Sometimes [if it takes a pitcher] a while to throw, on defense you can get a little . . . you look around a little bit, we’re human beings, so when your pitcher’s working quick and attacking the zone, you have to constantly be ready. It gets you off your feet and back into the dugout and lets you swing the bat earlier. You don’t have to stand out there as much. It just helps overall.”

Aaron Boone, who played 12 years in the big leagues, said he always preferred playing behind catch-it-and-throw it pitchers.

“I don't know, there's just something about when the guy's got a really good pace and rhythm to him, it usually helps sharpen up the defense a little bit,'' Boone said. "I don't know if that's fact or not, but I would imagine that it is. But certainly, I know guys love playing behind Nestor.”

It makes a difference to the catcher, too.

“It’s really good,” said Jose Trevino, who caught Cortes on Sunday. “You try to keep a good pace, try to keep the fielders engaged, especially a guy getting a lot of outs like that, you want to keep everybody engaged, keep them in rhythm.”

Cortes said the pace he works at dates to his high school days, when his dad verbally took issue with Cortes strolling around off the mound after almost every pitch.

“My dad would be like ‘Why are you walking so much? Your legs are going to give out if you’re pitching six, seven innings,’ ” Cortes said. “So I [started] staying on the mound, get the ball back and go.”

Cortes added with a smile: “He was sick of me getting tired going into the sixth [inning], so he said stop walking around so much and maybe you'll get there.”