Nestor Cortes very close to being good to go, Aaron Boone says
Nestor Cortes of the Yankees looks on against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on June 9. Credit: Jim McIsaac
BALTIMORE — Nestor Cortes came through the second of his planned three rehab starts looking big league-ready in terms of stuff, according to Aaron Boone.
Cortes pitched four scoreless innings Friday night for Double-A Somerset, allowing two hits, walking one and striking out five. And when the lefthander, who has been on the injured list since June 5 with a rotator cuff strain, is reinserted into the rotation, the Yankees will have a decision to make.
The organization does not plan at the moment to use a six-man rotation, meaning either Domingo German, Clarke Schmidt or Luis Severino will be headed to the bullpen. Schmidt, who started Saturday night, has been by far the best of the three for well over a month.
Schmidt came into Saturday night’s outing 6-6 with a 4.33 ERA but 6-3 with a 3.50 ERA in his previous 15 appearances (14 starts). German is 5-7 with a 4.77 ERA, including 0-2 with a 5.64 ERA in four starts since throwing a perfect game June 28 in Oakland. Severino, slated to start Sunday night against the Orioles, has mostly been a mess since coming off the IL in late May, going 2-4 with a 6.46 ERA.
Schmidt has the most bullpen experience of the three — and Severino has been vocal over the years about how much he dislikes pitching in relief — but taking the Yankees' most consistent starter not named Gerrit Cole (which Schmidt has been) out of the rotation would seem ill-advised.
Cortes wasn’t exactly lighting it up at the time of his injury — 5-2 but with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts — but Boone said he liked what he saw in Friday night's outing.
“Everything looked good,” said Boone, who watched Cortes’ 49-pitch performance on video Saturday morning. “The breaking ball [was good], had a good changeup. His fastball, the life was there, the command of the cutter. He was sharp.”
Visit from an old friend
A.J. Burnett, who had an adventurous three seasons with the Yankees from 2009-11 before being traded to the Pirates in spring training in 2012, was a visitor outside the clubhouse before Saturday night’s game.
Burnett signed a five-year, $82.5 million free-agent deal before the 2009 season. No one remains from those teams that he played on, but a few members of the traveling party staff do date back to his time in pinstripes.
Aaron Judge came out and chatted with Burnett, 46, who is retired in Maryland, as did Cole, who was a touted prospect with the Pirates' organization when Burnett was traded there in 2012. Cole, who debuted in 2013, has said over the years that Burnett was a mentor and helped him in a variety of ways, including with how to prepare between starts and game-day incorporation of data and information.
Though the wildly inconsistent Burnett went 34-35 with a 4.79 ERA with the Yankees, he did notch a win in the most important game of the 2009 team’s run to a World Series title. He allowed one run and four hits in seven innings in a 3-1 victory over the Phillies in Game 2 at the Stadium as the Yankees evened the World Series at 1-1. Burnett went 164-157 with a 3.99 ERA in 17 big-league seasons.
Hold that thought
Boone said Friday that his plan was to play Judge in two of the three games here, but on Saturday, he left open the possibility that Judge — who was the DH on Friday night and started in rightfield on Saturday night — could play in all three.
“Probably [will sit him Sunday] but we’ll see,” Boone said. “We’ll get through today and see where we’re at.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
