New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Yankees' Nestor Cortes off to frigid start

By Sam Minton | Last updated 5/1/24

Coming off an injury-shortened 2023 season, the New York Yankees were hoping to see Nestor Cortes return to his ways on the mound, but so far 2024 hasn't treated the lefty kindly.

While Cortes continues to evolve his wind-up, the overall results are not there. The left-hander is 1-3 to start the season after seven starts. Cortes also has a 3.86 ERA while striking out 37 batters in 42 innings pitched this season.

His latest start ended up being the Cuban's fourth straight loss as the Yankees suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles. While the Bronx Bombers were lacking in the hitting department, with the likes of Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton failing to record a hit on the evening, Cortes didn't do himself any favors by allowing three runs in the fourth inning.

Cortes' struggles couldn't have come at a worse time. His four straight losses come after Gerrit Cole was placed on the 60-day injured list to start the season. While New York's ace is eligible to return at the end of May, Baseball insider Ken Rosenthal stated on Fox Sports that Cole is unlikely to be ready at that time.

"He cannot come off the injured list until May 27th, and it's probably unlikely he will be ready at that time."@Ken_Rosenthal has the latest update on the timetable for Gerrit Cole's return ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/q5gjkONkDo
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 29, 2024

The Yankees currently sit second in the AL East and are only a game back so they have been able to manage Cortes' struggles. Juan Soto is leading the way at the plate with a .325 batting average, eight home runs, and 25 RBIs, making up for the poor performance from the left-handed pitcher.

But with Cole expected to miss more time, New York will need Cortes to be the ace in the Bronx. If not, the Yankees will have to rely on Soto, Judge and the other big bats in the lineup to do the heavy lifting.

This might seem like a plan that can be successful but as displayed in Cortes' latest loss, sometimes the bats can go quiet and that's exactly when you need your ace to carry you to victory.

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