Nestor Cortes

Nestor Cortes

30-Year-Old PitcherSP
Milwaukee Brewers
15-Day IL
Injury Elbow
Est. Return 4/25/2025
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Cortes put the shoulder trouble he experienced during the 2023 season behind him in 2024, making 31 appearances (30 starts) while throwing a career-high 174.1 innings. He was pitching his best ball of the season down the stretch with a 1.58 ERA and 38:10 K:BB across 40 frames covering his final seven outings. Injury struck again at that point, this time in the form of a flexor strain. Cortes was able to return as a reliever for the World Series, but health concerns will follow him during the offseason and into spring training, especially since flexor strains can sometimes be a precursor to Tommy John surgery. If the southpaw looks good and healthy during Cactus League play after coming over to the Brewers in the Devin Williams trade, his draft stock will tick up. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#270
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $7.6 million contract with the Brewers in January of 2025.
Receives injection
PMilwaukee Brewers
Elbow
April 8, 2025
Manager Pat Murphy said Tuesday that Cortes has received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left elbow, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
ANALYSIS
Cortes' injection will work to help his elbow recover from the strain that forced him to the injured list Sunday, but it will likely prevent him from throwing for a few days. He'll remain without a return timeline until he's cleared to begin a throwing program.
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Pitching Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
75
Last 10 Games
75
Last 5 Games
75
How many pitches does Nestor Cortes generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Nestor Cortes generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-21%
BAA vs LHP
2025
 
 
-54%
BAA vs RHP
2024
 
 
-20%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-38%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2023vs Left .202 208 58 13 39 6 0 6
Since 2023vs Right .255 805 179 53 189 54 0 34
2025vs Left .375 10 2 2 3 0 0 2
2025vs Right .174 28 6 5 4 1 0 3
2024vs Left .204 153 42 9 29 5 0 2
2024vs Right .256 557 120 30 133 39 0 22
2023vs Left .163 45 14 2 7 1 0 2
2023vs Right .261 220 53 18 52 14 0 9
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-36%
ERA at Home
2025
 
 
-100%
ERA at Home
2024
 
 
-30%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-17%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2023Home 3.38 1.03 133.0 8 5 0 8.5 1.7 1.2
Since 2023Away 5.27 1.39 112.2 7 8 0 8.9 3.3 1.8
2025Home 0.00 0.50 6.0 1 0 0 9.0 3.0 0.0
2025Away 36.00 5.50 2.0 0 1 0 9.0 22.5 22.5
2024Home 3.11 1.00 89.2 5 5 0 8.3 1.4 1.2
2024Away 4.46 1.31 84.2 4 5 0 8.4 2.7 1.3
2023Home 4.58 1.18 37.1 2 0 0 8.9 2.2 1.4
2023Away 5.54 1.35 26.0 3 2 0 10.4 3.8 1.7
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Nestor Cortes compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
1.14
 
K/9
9.0
 
BB/9
7.9
 
HR/9
5.6
 
Fastball
90.3 mph
 
ERA
9.00
 
WHIP
1.75
 
BABIP
.121
 
GB/FB
0.50
 
Left On Base
85.7%
 
Exit Velocity
81.4 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
7.9%
 
Spin Rate
2130 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
26.3%
 
Swinging Strike
8.7%
 
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
The crafty lefty cemented his spot in the Yankees' starting rotation in 2022 with a 2.44 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 163:38 K:BB across 158.1 innings, but he made just 12 starts in 2023 due to a rotator cuff strain. Cortes also struggled when available last season and finished with a 4.97 ERA over 63.1 innings to go along with a 1.6 HR/9 and a career-worst 40.1 percent hard-hit rate. A 3.71 xERA indicates some unfortunate results, while a 4.84 xFIP paints a less favorable underlying picture. Cortes' reliance on different arm angles and deliveries leaves less margin for error on his pitches, especially since his stuff doesn't really stand out. It also makes him more difficult to evaluate, as the numbers themselves tell less of a story than with most pitchers. A positive regression seems likely in 2024, but Cortes' lack of year-to-year track record leaves some risk coming off a poor campaign.
If you go back and look at Cortes's 2022 outlook, you can see he teased at what was possible, but without a large body of work, everyone was right to be skeptical of what Cortes would be as a starter. Those who took the chance in the late rounds were greatly rewarded by one of the best late round steals in 2022 as the lefty picked up where he left off in 2021 for most of the 2022 season. Cortes uses varying arm angles, deliveries, and pitches to frustrate hitters all season. 75% of what he threw were four-seamer and cutters, and those two pitches were paired so well that the league hit below .200 against both pitches while all five of his offerings had whiff rates above 20%. In 330 innings of work, he has a career 80% LOB rate and a .266 BABIP, so his 2022 numbers ( 79%, .243) are not terribly out of line and a continuation of what he did in 2021. The stuff is not paritcularly special, but his ability to spin and sequence it is certainly special and being a lefty in Yankee Stadium doesn't hurt either. The big question is if he can put up consecutive seasons of workload as he has never done so.
Cortes, when not running around Mushroom Kingdom attempting to avoid Bowser, enjoyed a surprising season for the Yankees. It was his second stint with the club, but this time he worked as a bandaid in the rotation rather than in low-leverage situations. He used a variety of arm angles, timing mechanisms and pitches making the most of his below-average stuff to effectively disrupt the timing of the opposing hitters. He is a throwback to the pitching of 30 years ago when guys relied on location and guile rather than velocity; somehow the league hit .196 off his fastball (.189 xBA!) when the pitch averaged 90.7 mph. Pitching where he does, and in the division he does, leaves Cortes with a thin margin for error, and he's been susceptible to the long ball throughout his career (2.0 HR/9 career rate). Cortes is really only rosterable if he were to secure a starting rotation spot in spring training.
More Fantasy News
Will seek second opinion on elbow
PMilwaukee Brewers
Elbow
April 6, 2025
Cortes, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow strain prior to Sunday's game against the Reds, said he will receive a second opinion on his injury, Sophia Minnaert of FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin reports.
ANALYSIS
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Goes on IL with elbow strain
PMilwaukee Brewers
Elbow
April 6, 2025
The Brewers placed Cortes on the 15-day injured list Sunday due to a left elbow flexor strain.
ANALYSIS
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Rebounds with one-hit ball over six
PMilwaukee Brewers
April 3, 2025
Cortes (1-1) picked up the win after throwing six scoreless innings on one hit and two walks Thursday against the Reds. He struck out six.
ANALYSIS
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Disastrous return to Yankee Stadium
PMilwaukee Brewers
March 29, 2025
Cortes (0-1) took the loss Saturday, getting hammered for eight runs on six hits -- five of them home runs -- and five walks over two-plus innings in a 20-9 rout by the Yankees. He struck out two.
ANALYSIS
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Makes spring debut
PMilwaukee Brewers
March 10, 2025
Cortes gave up one earned run over 2.2 innings in Sunday's spring game. He allowed four hits, struck out two batters and walked one.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Being dangled in trade talks
PNew York Yankees
July 29, 2024
Cortes' name is "definitely out there" in trade talks, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
ANALYSIS
Cortes was mentioned previously as a potential target for the Cardinals in a deal that would send Tommy Edman to the Yankees. While Heyman wasn't able to confirm that connection, it does appear the Yankees are willing to trade the left-hander. Cortes has faltered of late in allowing 15 runs over his last three starts, but he's had a solid 2024 season on the whole in posting a 4.13 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 116:26 K:BB in 124.1 innings covering 22 starts. The 29-year-old is making $3.95 million this season and has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining.
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