Yankees’ Nestor Cortes expresses dissatisfaction after difficult start Vs Rays

Nestor Cortes, the New York Yankees’ top pitcher, was lit up by the Tampa Bay Rays in his most recent start on Saturday, May 11, and he spoke out about it.

According to Gary Phillips of The New York Daily News, Cortes was hard on himself for allowing the game get away from him early and not keeping his typical command on the mound.

“From my point of view, it looked like a couple of strikes could have been called,” Cortes stated. “But, I don’t think that determined the entire game for me. I simply need to produce better pitches and locate that fastball a bit earlier.”

Nestor Cortes allowed the Rays to score too many runs inside of three innings

Cortes gave up a home run against Yandy Diaz in the first inning. His troubles were aggravated in the third inning, when he gave up a three-run home run to Randy Arozarena, bringing the score to 4-2.

The 29-year-old was able to keep the Rays scoreless for the rest of his six-inning stint, but Cortes was not as sharp as he could have been in terms of strike zone control.

Cortes’ dissatisfaction with his work in the strike zone was merited

Cortes peaked out at 93.2 mph during the game and struck out 53 of his 89 pitches. However, six of his first seven pitches were either home runs, balls, or foul balls. Three of his four pitches were clearly wide of the strike zone.

Surprisingly, he struck out just two of the first 15 batters he faced. The other 13 put pressure on Cortes by hitting bombs into the bleachers, connecting on effective singles and doubles, and demonstrating their ability to hone in on his deliveries by lining out and popping out.

The Yankees’ southpaw currently has a 1-4 record and a 4.02 ERA, but his 1.081 WHIP remains clean. Cortes will most likely return to the mound after five days of recovery. He’ll aim to bounce back in the Yankees’ series against the Chicago White Sox, which begins on May 17 or as early as May 16 against the Minnesota Twins.