With the Yankees less than 24 hours away from announcing their ALCS roster, two injured veterans were still in play against the Guardians.
On Sunday, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said that Nestor Cortes remains an option for the series, which begins Monday at Yankee Stadium. Cortes went on the injured list with a left elbow flexor strain on Sept. 25, but the lefty threw his first bullpen since the injury on Sunday following a few days of catch play.
“I would say [he’s] on the outside looking in,” Blake said. “But based on how he looked today, you continue to have conversations. You gotta obviously see where the rest of the group is, but I would say not ruled out.”
Blake added that Cortes threw roughly 20 pitches while using his entire arsenal. He also acknowledged that putting Cortes in a game situation would be a “pretty large jump” after one bullpen, “But we’re at that point of the year where everything’s on the table.”
Normally, a pitcher would have to face live batters a few times before coming back from an injury, but Cortes is at least a consideration for the ALCS roster despite there being some risk in him returning from a flexor strain so soon. The injury can be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, but Cortes has made it known that he wants to pitch this October.
“I think it’s a big concern,” Blake said of Tommy John surgery. “You don’t want to put him at risk and jeopardize his future. So I think those are all conversations. We gotta share the risk amongst everybody and do right by the player.”
A more serious injury could have major ramifications for Cortes, as he is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2025 season. If Cortes were to miss significant time in 2025, it could hurt his future earnings and potentially make him a non-tender candidate this offseason.
“I think it’s an educated risk in some ways,” Blake said when asked if what Cortes is doing is smart. “We’ve gotten a lot of information. We’ve had him evaluated a lot of different times. We’ve been monitoring the symptoms. Obviously, we typically follow a pretty lengthy return to play progression. This would probably expedite some of the steps in some way. So whether it’s this round or the next round, every day you add to the mix decreases some of the risk. So we’ll see.”
If the Yankees use Cortes in the ALCS, it won’t be as a starter. He hasn’t had enough time to build up, and the team’s rotation is set. Carlos Rodón will start Game 1, while Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil will follow.
With the Yankees deliberating Cortes’ availability and deciding between 12 or 13 pitchers for their ALCS roster, Blake also said that Marcus Stroman is in the mix as a bulk option out of the bullpen. The starter, who struggled in the second half, wasn’t on the Yankees’ ALDS roster but has been throwing.
A decision also needs to be made on Anthony Rizzo.
The first baseman fractured two fingers in his right hand on the second-to-last day of the regular season and missed the ALDS. He hoped to be ready for the ALCS, and he’s done baseball activities since the injury.
On Sunday, he could be seen doing defensive work at first base.
“We’re going to see today,” Aaron Boone said. “He did a lot more yesterday and did pretty well, but I want to see more today.”
Anthony Rizzo is getting some defensive work in with the #Yankees' other first basemen. pic.twitter.com/mVqgMXG7iR
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) October 13, 2024
Boone added that “there’s a chance” Rizzo makes the ALCS roster.
The Yankees started utilitymen Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti at first base in the ALDS with Rizzo out. The duo performed well on both sides of the ball despite limited experience at first.
Ben Rice also made the ALDS roster but didn’t see any action.
