Yankees' Nestor Cortes put on the 15-day injured list after MRI
New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes. Credit: AP/Lindsey Wasson
One day after Aaron Boone talked about how healthy the Yankees are heading into the postseason, a new, significant injury appeared.
Nestor Cortes, Wednesday night’s scheduled starting pitcher against Baltimore, was scratched and placed on the 15-day injured list after a morning MRI showed a left elbow flexor strain.
Cortes will be shut down for 7-10 days and his future – both for a hoped-for return during the postseason and into 2025 – is in doubt.
The Yankees turned to Marcus Stroman to start against Baltimore. The Yankees, with a magic number of one going in, needed a win to clinch the American League East.
Cortes, who said he has been pitching through “tenderness (for) a few weeks,” is going to get second opinions from noted orthopedic surgeons Keith Meister and Neal ElAttrache. At this point, Cortes said, the Yankees are just going to send the MRIs to those doctors. He is not planning to visit them in person.
Cortes said the tenderness was too much when he threw a bullpen session on Sunday. He tried throwing again on Tuesday and that’s when the MRI was scheduled.
“I didn't feel like a pop or I didn't feel anything where my performance steeply declined,” he said. “I don't know what the timetable looks like. I don't know if it’s 10 days or 40 days, but I know with rest it will get better and hopefully with the treatments that I get, it's going to feel better.”
Asked if he was worried this injury could lead to surgery, Cortes said there was no evidence of ligament damage, but added: “We don't have enough information yet to know if it needs surgery or not. Hopefully, it doesn't. What I've gotten from the doctors right now, we might be able to rehab this and go from there. But we'll reconsider every idea and every (piece of) information that's thrown at me.”
Cortes said he expects to get a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection. He said he hasn’t given up hope of helping the Yankees if they have a long postseason run.
“Obviously, my main focus is to come back and help this team,” said Cortes, who is 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts and one relief appearance and has been pitching his best ball of late, having allowed just one earned run in his last 15 1/3 innings.
“That’s one of the things that stinks about this, too,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Just how well he’s throwing the baseball right now.”
Cortes’ best stretch of the season coincided with the tenderness in his elbow, which he said he started feeling “right before” his one relief outing on Sept. 7 against the Cubs in Chicago.
Cortes, who had been removed from the rotation, was honest that he wasn’t happy about coming out of the bullpen after he threw 4 1/3 hitless, shutout innings to earn a win. He returned to the rotation on Sept. 12.
Both Cortes and Boone said they didn’t think his temporary bullpen assignment had anything to do with the injury.
Cortes suffered through an injury-plagued 2023, but the culprit then was a shoulder injury. He has been rock-solid for most of 2024 and was in consideration for either a starting role or bullpen job in the postseason.
“It sucks that I'm in this position right now, to where I can't help the team,” he said. “Obviously, with what I dealt with last year, and how well I prepared this offseason to pitch this season, and how well it's been going for me in the last five or six starts, whatever the number is, finally felt like things were clicking for me.”
Stroman, who was pulled from the rotation on Sept. 13, made one three-inning relief appearance and picked up his second career save on Sept. 17 in Seattle. He hasn’t pitched since.
Righthander Cody Poteet was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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