"This place will absolutely go wild if he homers right now" - New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes called Anthony Rizzo’s walk-off home run against the Rays before he even hit it
New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes is a great pitcher. At this point, that's pretty obvious. Over two months into the season, the lefty holds an immaculate 1.94 earned-run average and 0.93 WHIP. His psychic abilities are less obvious.
For the record, Nestor Cortes is not a psychic. He can't read batters' minds; he's just really good at guessing. But last night, Cortes almost convinced viewers that he could see into the future by calling Anthony Rizzo's walk-off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays before it even happened.
Cortes was wearing a microphone before and during the game for the YES broadcasting network's use. As he ran around the field during practice and sat in the dugout during the game, the broadcasters collected audio of him speaking to his teammates.
"You ever tried these dill-pickle-flavored sunflower seeds?" he asked teammate Jordan Montgomery at one point. They then shared a few.
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The game's biggest moment came with Anthony Rizzo at the plate in the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees slugger had a chance to walk off the game. Cortes stood up in the dugout.
"It's been too long---he hasn't hit a homer," said Cortes. "It's been way too long."
Anthony Rizzo then crushed a walk-off home run.
Nestor called Rizzo’s walk-off home run
(via @Yankees) https://t.co/wZWkSrDdjl
"Nestor called Rizzo’s walk-off home run" - @Talkin' Yanks
New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes knows how to have fun while doing it all
Nestor Cortes must have a premonition to win. He's pretty good at it.
The 27-year-old has won six games this season and lost only two. His expected batting average is one of the lowest in the league, sitting in the 94th percentile. His expected on-base average is even better. It's in the league's 95th percentile.
What's even better is that Cortes throws his fastball almost 40% of the time but still manages to fool batters. His chase rate is in the 66th percentile even though his average fastball velocity is one of the worst in the league, sitting in the sixth percentile. He also has an excellent strikeout rate in the league's 79th percentile.
However, Cortes's biggest strength is, by far, his ability to have fun while doing it all.