NEW YORK -- The new addition to the Brewers¡¯ starting rotation showed up with a new look for Opening Day at his old stomping grounds. Nestor Cortes, the veteran left-hander who came over in a December trade with the Yankees, will take the mound Saturday afternoon with platinum blonde hair, with just a hint of purple.
¡°I thought he was a superhero,¡± Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook said. ¡°It¡¯s good to be different.¡±
That is especially true for Cortes, 30, whose differentness explains his 3.80 ERA over seven big league seasons, including an All-Star Game appearance for the Yankees in 2022 and an Opening Day start in ¡¯24, all with a fastball sitting around 92 mph in an era in which 97s, 98s and 99s regularly appear on scoreboards.
Cortes is funky, as Brewers fans will see on Saturday afternoon when he¡¯s scheduled to make his Milwaukee debut. He can vary his arm angle and the cadence of his delivery in order to make the most of his arsenal, which is one of the reasons a fastball with pedestrian velocity by today¡¯s standards ranked in the 94th percentile of run value last season, according to Baseball Savant.
When Christian Yelich stood in the batter¡¯s box for live batting practice against Cortes in the early days of Spring Training, Cortes played it straight and threw with a consistent delivery. Considering it was some of the first ¡°real¡± pitching Yelich had seen since July, he was grateful.
¡°He¡¯s unique, obviously,¡± Yelich said. ¡°Hitting is timing, so his thing is disrupting your timing. But, not everybody can do that.¡±
¡°I would love to have 97-98 [mph] instead of the funkiness,¡± Cortes said. ¡°But to my advantage, I¡¯m able to have that control over my body and balance. It¡¯s worked for the times that I¡¯ve done it.¡±
The Brewers, who acquired him with infield prospect Caleb Durbin in exchange for Devin Williams, have a lot riding on Cortes¡¯ sustained success in 2025. They carried only three true starting pitchers on the Opening Day roster -- Freddy Peralta, Cortes and Aaron Civale.
After that, it¡¯s all to be determined. Last year¡¯s breakout starter, Tobias Myers, and electric left-hander Aaron Ashby both went down during Spring Training with oblique injuries. Lefty DL Hall¡¯s spring never even got started because of a lat injury. Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) and Robert Gasser (elbow) are still in rehab mode from surgery. Jose Quintana agreed to be optioned to the Minors to begin the season so he can complete his build-up after signing with the Brewers midway through Spring Training.
Who will start Monday¡¯s home opener? To be determined. A sellout crowd at American Family Field will get an early look at how the Brewers are once again piecing together a pitching staff. They¡¯ve had success doing so before.
¡°The ivory tower -- I call our front office the ivory tower -- has a plan in terms of depth and all that type of stuff,¡± Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. ¡°That¡¯s the great thing about what [GM] Matt [Arnold] and his group have done, they¡¯ve provided us depth every year. It might not be experienced depth. You know, that¡¯s expensive. But we have depth. The 13 guys we have showing up, they can get the job done.¡¯
¡°It¡¯s the norm,¡± Hook said. ¡°It¡¯s just what we do.¡±
The Brewers have their fingers crossed that Cortes will be a mainstay after he set career highs for starts (30) and innings (174 1/3). He missed time late last season with a forearm injury, and took some time to find a rhythm in Spring Training, but heads into his debut season with the Brewers fully healthy.
He has a lot to pitch for, since he will be a free agent at season¡¯s end. More imminently on his mind, however, is that Cortes¡¯ wife is due to give birth to the couple¡¯s first child in two weeks. Cortes said Thursday that he was already on high alert for the call to leave. If he does, it will mean another adjustment for a Brewers team that has become used to making them.
¡°This team has welcomed me with open arms,¡± Cortes said. ¡°There are a lot of good people here. This team is a winning team, so it¡¯s not like I went to the worst possible situation. We¡¯re going to compete for the playoffs and hopefully make a deep run. ¡
¡°There¡¯s something special here, for sure.¡±
Was it strange being back at Yankee Stadium as a visitor for the first time since 2018?
¡°I was a little in my feelings when I got here,¡± Cortes said at his locker in the visitors¡¯ clubhouse. ¡°It¡¯s going to be different. But I¡¯m going to be ready.¡±