Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortez Jr. displayed an outrageous pitching windup during Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians.
In this unconventional move, he raised his right leg and then faked a plant-and-throw, pretending to pump and throw, and not actually firing the ball for an additional second or two after the pretend.
Nester lol pic.twitter.com/mLH7CAxUS9
— Talkin Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 14, 2024
the One of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen at a baseball stadium. It’s also possible that opposing Cleveland Guardians infielder Andres Jimenez was cheating when he fouled Cortez’s sweeper.
Frankly, this motion by Cortez, who is known for his wacky windups, is a bit of a stretch. This is a tactic suited to the fictional sport of Universal His Studio’s comedy “BASEketball,” a fictional version of basketball, in which players can try to distract their opponents during their at-bats.
Cortez’s bizarre windups have already garnered attention, but none so blatantly attempted to throw batters away as this one.
I don’t mind him changing his timing to keep hitters guessing, that’s part of the game, but this is bush league stuff. The fact that blatant fake pumps isn’t against the rules is ridiculous. (Related: Shohei Otani’s former interpreter surrenders to law enforcement)
Apparently, the fakeout wasn’t illegal – the umpire didn’t call him a balk – but it definitely should have been.Hitting a baseball is hard enough: MLB batters do just that. millisecond Decide whether to swing when pitching. Add in the calculations of whether or not the pitcher will actually release the ball, and the decision-making process becomes nearly impossible.
Cortez’s antics ultimately didn’t lead to a win: He gave up four runs in four innings, and the Yankees lost 8-7. It’s a cute store trick, Nestor, but please call me when you win the ball game.
