This Date In Transaction Historical past: Yankees Signal Nestor Cortes

Each winter, each group in baseball indicators dozens of free brokers to minor league offers, principally in hopes of discovering a utility bullpen or bench piece on a budget or giving a veteran the prospect to battle for a roster spot throughout spring coaching. Discovering a real diamond within the tough by this course of is extraordinarily uncommon, but it surely occurred to the Yankees 4 years in the past, the day they formally signed the left-hander Nestor Cortes For a minor league deal. On the time, the southpaw was only a month away from his twenty sixth birthday and had a 6.72 ERA in 79 innings of labor on the large league degree. Regardless of that tough begin to Curtis’ MLB profession, the Yankees’ choice to carry him deeper into the outfield for the 2021 season rapidly proved to be some of the fruitful minor league signings in latest reminiscence.

The membership was very aware of Curtis once they signed him to the deal, as this was truly the lefty’s third stint within the Bronx. First drafted by the membership within the thirty sixth spherical of the 2013 draft, Curtis was plucked from the membership within the 2017 Rule 5 draft by the Orioles, however was introduced again only a few months later. He then threw 66 2/3 innings of labor for the Yankees throughout his rookie season in 2019, although he struggled to a 5.67 ERA and located himself traded to the Mariners in November. Curtis made simply 5 video games in Seattle earlier than electing minor league free company and returning to the Yankees earlier than the 2021 season.

The lefty’s return to the Bronx would not start in earnest till mid-Could, when he was added to the membership’s roster as a multi-inning reduction choice out of the bullpen. Curtis’s first look of the 12 months got here on Could 30 in opposition to the Tigers, pitching considerably inconsistently with two runs (one earned) allowed in 3 2/3 innings of labor that noticed him strike out three, hand over three hits, and stroll 4. Nevertheless, all through June, Curtis appeared completely dominant. He pitched to a microscopic 0.64 ERA throughout six begins (14 innings) that month and struck out 42.3% of opponents.

This overwhelming success earned Curtis a spot within the beginning rotation when the calendar flipped to July, and he was capable of keep that spot within the Yankees’ rotation all through the rest of the season. In 14 begins all through the second half of the season, Curtis pitched to a wonderful 3.07 ERA in 73 1/3 innings of labor and struck out a good 25.4% of his opponents. His look helped the Yankees overcome accidents Corey Kluber, Louis Gilland Domingo German Which examined their beginning depth all season. Whereas Curtis didn’t pitch within the postseason that 12 months when the Yankees fell to the Pink Sox within the AL Wild Card recreation, he entered 2022 with a agency grip on a job within the beginning rotation.

It is turning out to be a profession 12 months for the left-hander. Curtis was among the many greatest pitchers within the sport in 2022, incomes his first (and to date solely) All-Star look and ending within the high 10 in AL Cy Younger Award voting that 12 months. Whereas his 158 1/3 innings of labor weren’t sufficient to qualify for the ERA title, he did make a good 28 begins and his 2.44 ERA was seventh lowest within the majors amongst pitchers with at the least 150 innings of labor and left. confined between Shuhei Otani and Max Fried on the leaderboard for that 12 months. His 26.5% strikeout fee, 3.13 FIP, and three.7 fWAR rank within the high 20 amongst that group as nicely. The memorable season noticed Curtis pitch in three main postseason video games for the Yankees in October. He pitched in two begins in opposition to the Guardians with a 2.70 ERA in ten innings however was ultimately on the mound within the Yankees’ last recreation of the season, when the Astros accomplished their sweep of the Bombers in Sport 4 of the ALCS.

After Curtis’ profession 12 months in 2022, the lefty noticed his manufacturing endure a little bit of a downturn. 2023 was a misplaced season for Curtis, as he made simply 12 begins as a consequence of a pair of rotator cuff strains and struggled to a sub-par 4.97 ERA when he was wholesome sufficient to take the mound. 2024 was a step in the precise course for the lefty as he was wholesome for many of the 12 months, however his outcomes paled compared to what they have been in his first two years again at Yankee Stadium. In 174 1/3 innings of labor for the Yankees final 12 months, he pitched to a 3.77 ERA (109 ERA+) with a 3.84 FIP however struggled within the second half with a 4.41 ERA over his final 12 video games.

Nonetheless, this represented a strong mid-to-back efficiency from the rotation’s general manufacturing, and it was a troubling blow to the membership’s depth when a late-season flexor pressure appeared to jeopardize Curtis’ postseason in late September. The lefty returned to the mound in time for the membership’s World Collection look in opposition to the Yankees, although some followers may need he hadn’t after surrendering a grand slam to Freddie Freeman within the tenth inning of Sport 1. Curtis went on to throw 1 2/3 scoreless reduction innings in Sport 3, however had little affect throughout the remainder of the Collection because the Yankees dropped the sequence to the Dodgers in 5 video games.

New York traded Curtis for the second time final month once they packaged him with the highest prospect Caleb Durbin And money concerns for the Brewers star nearer Devin Williams. At the least for now, this commerce ended Curtis’ lengthy saga with the Yankees. With Curtis getting into his age-30 season and only a 12 months away from free company, it is anybody’s guess whether or not he’ll discover himself again within the Bronx in some unspecified time in the future earlier than his profession is over, however he leaves New York as one of many membership’s costliest signings lately. .

Over the previous 4 seasons, the lefty has pitched to a 3.33 ERA in 489 innings of labor throughout 93 video games (84 begins) whereas hanging out 25.2% of his opponents. It is a efficiency that was price 9.4 fWAR and 10.3 bWAR, and even in 2025, the choice to carry Curtis again into the fold was a present that retains on giving now that Williams and his profession 1.83 ERA will spend his last 12 months earlier than free company closes video games within the Bronx. Getting that degree of manufacturing from the signing of a mid-20s minor league participant who has a profession ERA north of 6.00 is one thing any membership can be proud of, and the outcome represents a transparent win for Brian Cashman’s entrance workplace.