Nestor Cortes felt like himself again Sunday, and he looked like it, skills included.
Cortes combined a few hesitation deliveries with lower arm slides during four effective innings against the Tigers, bringing his pitch count to 54.
The Yankees left-hander then verbally expressed his improved situation.
“Best it’s ever been in a while,” Cortes said after allowing one hit (a single home run), one walk, and three strikeouts. “I just felt like I was in a rhythm, and everything was flowing. I gave up one bomb, but everything else was easy; I was throwing strikes, banging the zone, and commanding pitches.
For Cortes blended in some old moves for the first time this spring, fresh off a season disrupted by a pair of rotator cuff issues.
In the second inning, he swung his leg back toward center field before pitching a flyout.
The following inning, he slipped his arm slot several times, notably on a sweeper that forced Akil Baddoo to fan at strike three wide off the plate.
“Gleyber [Torres] was asking for it from the dugout,” Cortes added, smiling. “So that sort of lead me to that. But, after I started doing it and it became natural, I felt like I was in a good place.”
Manager Aaron Boone said Cortes had looked terrific all spring after moving most of his training and recovery to the Yankees’ player development complex, but he wanted to see more of it as he increased his workload.
“His bounce-back’s been good in between [outings], so that’s been exciting,” Boone told the media. “Just gotta keep going with it.”
Cortes has expressed that view several times in camp, remaining cautiously optimistic as his workload grows.
But three or four days after last Monday’s start, Cortes said he felt like he hadn’t pitched in a week because he felt so fantastic.
