NEW YORK — Nestor Cortes waited nearly a year for another path back to a major league mound.
His latest opportunity has already hit an unexpected interruption.
The former Yankees All-Star signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 19 after spending virtually the entire 2026 season without a team. Philadelphia immediately sent the veteran left-hander to Single-A Clearwater, where the plan was to build him back toward major league readiness.
Less than a week later, Cortes landed on the injured list.
The transaction initially carried the appearance of another physical setback for a pitcher whose career has been repeatedly interrupted by arm trouble. But the circumstances are more complicated.
Cortes has not pitched in a game for Clearwater since joining the organization. The Phillies’ minor league transaction log shows he was placed on the seven-day injured list Wednesday, retroactive to Aug. 25.
Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reported that the move is intended to create additional time for Cortes to prepare rather than address a newly diagnosed injury.
“This is to give Cortes some time to ramp up; no injury, per se,” Varnes reported.
For a former Yankees rotation fixture attempting another comeback, even a procedural pause adds another twist to a difficult two-year stretch.
Cortes’ Phillies comeback pauses almost immediately
Philadelphia took a relatively low-risk chance on Cortes after the 31-year-old spent the first four-plus months of the season as a free agent.
The Phillies signed him to a one-year split contract. The deal pays the ex-Yankees star $1.5 million if he reaches the majors and $250,000 while he remains in the minors, according to The Associated Press.
Cortes agreed to begin at Clearwater rather than join Philadelphia’s pitching staff immediately.
Interim Phillies manager Don Mattingly described the signing as a depth move and pointed to Cortes’ experience as part of the appeal.
“I think it’s depth. It’s another guy that’s got experience,” Mattingly said after Philadelphia added the former Yankees starter.
The Phillies believed Cortes was throwing well enough to warrant the gamble.
His assignment to Clearwater, however, always represented the beginning of a buildup rather than an immediate return to MLB competition.
That process now carries an IL designation.
Injuries changed Cortes’ path after Yankees exit
For Yankees fans, Cortes’ inability to quickly resume pitching carries additional significance because of how sharply his career trajectory changed after leaving New York.
Cortes became one of the Yankees’ most unexpected success stories during his second stint in the Bronx.
He broke out in 2022, going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and earning his first American League All-Star selection. He eventually became a fixture in New York’s rotation despite relying more heavily on deception, changing arm angles and command than overwhelming velocity.
Cortes finished his Yankees career after the 2024 season.
He went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA that year and worked a career-high 174 1/3 innings. But a left elbow flexor strain sidelined him late in September before the Yankees brought him back for the World Series.
New York then traded Cortes, infielder Caleb Durbin and cash to Milwaukee in December 2024 for closer Devin Williams.
What followed was a season dominated by health problems.
Cortes made only two starts for Milwaukee before a left flexor tendon strain kept him out of major league action from early April until August.
Milwaukee traded him to San Diego at the 2025 deadline. Cortes eventually made six starts for the Padres, but left biceps tendinitis ended his season in September. He finished 2025 with a 2-4 record and a 6.29 ERA in eight starts between Milwaukee and San Diego.
He underwent surgery on his throwing arm last October.
That history explains why Wednesday’s IL transaction immediately attracted attention.
Latest IL move carries an important distinction
There is no current indication that Cortes has suffered another structural setback.
That distinction matters.
The official transaction places him on an injured list, but reporting surrounding the move indicates Philadelphia is using the time to continue getting him physically ready to pitch.
Cortes had already gone almost 12 months without appearing in a major league game. His last MLB outing came for San Diego on Sept. 3, 2025.
He also entered the Phillies organization without the benefit of a normal spring training or regular-season workload.
Philadelphia knew that when it signed him.
The organization therefore had little reason to rush a pitcher who could eventually provide depth either in the rotation or bullpen.
The Phillies currently control Cortes through the one-year agreement and can evaluate his progress in the minors before determining whether he can help at the major league level.
Former Yankees All-Star faces another comeback test
Cortes’ career numbers show why Philadelphia considered him worth the experiment.
He owns a 35-25 record with a 3.94 ERA across 143 major league appearances, including 94 starts.
Those numbers include the best stretch of his career with the Yankees, when Cortes went from a journeyman pitcher to an All-Star and eventually pitched meaningful innings during New York’s postseason runs.
His career since leaving the Bronx has looked far different.
Two organizations employed him in 2025. Injuries limited him to eight starts. Surgery followed. He then remained unsigned deep into the 2026 season before Philadelphia provided another opening.
Now the first stage of that return has been temporarily halted before Cortes has even appeared for Clearwater.
The encouraging part for Cortes is that the latest IL placement does not currently carry word of another injury.
The harder question is when his buildup will finally put him back on a mound in an official game.
For now, the former Yankees All-Star remains on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster, but his attempt to reach the majors again has been placed on hold almost as soon as it began.
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