Note:
- League-average WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) is around 1.24; anything LOWER is good anything HIGHER is not good
- League-average ERA (earned run average) is around 3.77; anything below is GREAT anything above is NOT great
At the beginning of the MLB season, many sports media companies and sites had the New York Yankees ranked 11th in terms of power rankings. Now, in mid-May, the Yankees find themselves ranked 1st in current power rankings and hold the best record in baseball. Many people will ask themselves, “How did the New York Yankees get so good this season?” While many people think of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton as the reason why, I want to focus on Nestor Cortes Jr., a very underrated starting pitcher for the Yankees who has greatly contributed to their success thus far.
First, we need to break down Nestor’s numbers this season. On the season, Cortes owns a 1.35 ERA, and a microscopic 0.85 WHIP, with 49 strikeouts and 11 walks in 49 innings pitched. Cortes sports a 32.5 K% (top 9% of the league and 5% higher than last season) and batters are hitting a measly .164/.225/.279 – that’s impressive coming from a pitcher whose fastest pitch only travels 88.1 MPH. While limiting base-runners and hits, Cortes has also done a great job at limiting home runs (only gave up 3 home runs so far) which is partially due to the pitches that he throws.
Another reason why Cortes is excelling as a pitcher is because of his use of the cutter. Back in 2020, the cutter was not a pitch that Cortes threw as part of his repertoire. However, this season he throws the cutter about 40.5% of the time which limits hits and induces weaker contact. Opposing batters have hit just .141/.203/.266 against Nestor’s cutter which further contributes to his success as a pitcher. Below, is a heat map of Nestor’s cutter and where it is generally thrown. The cutter will run inside against right-handed batters – which often jams them. Against left-handed batters, the cutter runs to the outside part of the zone making it hard to square up and causing them to “chase” it outside of the zone.
Nasty Nestor didn’t get his nickname for no reason. A big part of Nestor’s success is the horizontal break of his slider. Instead of a more traditional slider, Nestor’s is more of a “sweeping slider” which emphasizes more horizontal movement. Nasty Nestor uses his slider as a complementary pitch to his cutter and fastball and throws his slider about 14.7% of the time. This season, Cortes’ slider horizontally breaks 16.2 inches (1.7 inches more than last season). Through the use of his slider, Nestor gets 15% of his strikeouts from his slider and has a whiff rate of 12.9% on his slider.
The main reason for Nestor Cortes’ success on the mound so far is his improvement. In almost every statistical pitching category, Cortes has shown improvement. From the addition of his cutter to the use of his “sweeping slider”, Cortes aimed for improvement in each aspect of pitching which allowed him to dominate batters early on. The Yankees should continue to roll with the help of Nasty Nestor and their all-star sluggers in Judge, Stanton, Rizzo, Donaldson, and many more. Nestor Cortes is a key component of the Yankees team and should continue to play an integral role in their success as a team.
Nestor Cortes Pitching Breakdowns/Analysis Videos:
Matthew Suh is a staff writer and contributor for Talking Points Sports. While Matthew covers football, basketball, and baseball he tends to focus on writing about the MLB and baseball Questions about the MLB or baseball? Follow or DM Matthew on Twitter @matthewsuh for inquiries. Be sure to follow @TalkingPointsSports on Twitter for the latest sports content!
