It’s been a tough go recently for the New York Yankees, who have struggled offensively, struggled to beat bad teams, and are off to a 5-5 start.
Granted, it’s early in the season.
The Yankees have a ton of talent and it’s only a matter of time before they heat up and assume their position as a legitimate playoff contender.
Ten games into the season is not a time to start panicking.
And it’s not like there haven’t been success stories to this point.
One that sticks out is that of Nestor Cortes, who made a little history yesterday during their game against the Baltimore Orioles, becoming the first pitcher in Yankees history to strike out 12 or more batters in five innings or less and tossing an immaculate inning along the way.
Yesterday, Nestor Cortes became the first @Yankees player in history to strike out 12+ batters in 5 innings or fewer. pic.twitter.com/ICiP4Qx0yX
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) April 18, 2022
Pitching Like An Ace
With the struggles of Gerrit Cole thus far, Cortes is pitching like the Yankees’ ace.
He threw five shutout innings yesterday in their 5-0 loss, walking just one batter and only surrendering three hits.
At the very least, Cortes is a solid swingman who can start or pitch multiple innings in relief.
And it’s nice to have a guy like him pitching well this early in the season, especially with starters on a short leash due to the lockout, which caused a shortened spring training.
Cortes obviously was unable to secure the win yesterday, as the Yankees’ offense was anemic, but he’s off to a good start in 2022 and appears to be a valuable piece on the pitching staff.
Tossing an immaculate inning along the way also helps matters quite a bit.
We’ll see if Cortes can keep this up.
NEXT: Yankees Stars See Aaron Judge As Their Captain
