Blog's

Nestor Cortes Jr. American Baseball Pitcher

Cortés was born in Cergidero de Batabano, Cuba. When he was seven months old, his father Nestor Cortes Sr. won the visa lottery and moved to Hialeah, Florida, in the United States. His father was sentenced to a year in prison after a failed attempt to escape from Cuba in 1992. Nestor Sr. met his wife Euselady the following year. Nestor Sr. drove forklifts and his mother worked as a manicurist.

Cortes started playing baseball at the age of four. His father took him to watch the Major League Baseball (MLB) Florida Marlins play at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens. Cortes attended Hialeah High School in Hialeah, Florida. He committed to play college baseball at Florida International University.

Nestor Cortés Jr., nicknamed “Nasty Nestor” and “The Hialeah Kid”, is a Cuban-American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners. The Yankees selected Cortes in the 36th round of the 2013 MLB draft. After being selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft following the 2017 season, he made his MLB debut with them in 2018 before returning to the Yankees.

Cortes pitched for the Yankees in 2019 and the Mariners in 2020, re-joining the Yankees in 2021 and establishing himself in their starting rotation. Cortes was an MLB All-Star in 2022. Cortes began the 2023 season in the Yankees rotation, posting a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts.