"It's impressive for us" - Nestor Cortes Jr. praises Yankees pitching squad despite team's disheartening loss against Angels
Nestor Cortes Jr. is coming off a decent outing for the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Angels. Cortes was impressive on the mound, but his hard work went in vain as the Yankees failed to win despite maintaining a lead.
The Bronx Bombers had a 1-0 lead with Juan Soto's home run. However, the Angels scored two runs off Cortes and the Yanks were restricted to three. Clay Holmes was unable to get the save for the team from the bullpen.
Despite their disheartening loss, Cortes praised the club's pitching squad for their overall potential and for going deep in games. The Yankees pitching squad has been dominant this season despite the absence of reigning Cy Young Award Winner, Gerrit Cole.
When asked about the bullpen's struggle against the Angels, Cortes had a positive motivation for the team:
"We have a lot of trust in those guys back there. Obviously, on any given night stuff like this can happen, but we are pretty confident when these guys go in for us," Nestor Cortes Jr. said.
While there have been a few struggles once in a while. Cortes looked to the brighter side and the internal competition that helped the team to perform better:
"I think we done a good job internally to make this a little competition among ourselves. I guess that's kinda like the motivating part about us where we all wanna go into the sixth and seventh inning. When we can go deep into games and keep them to a minimum, it's impressive for us," he added.
Nestor Cortes Jr. leads Yankees in innings pitched
Nestor Cortes Jr. pitched the most innings for the Yankees after his last outing. Cortes recorded 15 starts for the team and holds a 3-4 record. The southpaw threw a total of 71 innings and recorded 67 strikeouts.
Cortes has a 3.30 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He also surrendered 27 earned runs for the team, which is currently the highest on the Yankees lineup. Additionally, he surrendered eight home runs in his 2024 season.
Cortes has helped the Yanks to win several important games. Cortes gave up two earned runs in five innings pitched against the Angels. A little support from the bullpen might have got them over the line.