Every now and then, New York Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes tries to surprise a hitter with a unique delivery.
Sometimes he pauses on the pitching rubber during his windup and turns his back to the batter in a twisting motion, maybe even faking a throw, before finally pitching. Other times, he suddenly throws a quick pitch to the plate.
Cortes’ creativity often pleases the Yankee Stadium crowd, especially if it disrupts a hitter’s timing and results in an easy out. But on this occasion, it could have been a problem.
With two outs and no one on base in the sixth inning on Friday, Cortes used a twisting delivery and threw too high to Corey Julks of the Chicago White Sox. Shortly after, Cortes quickly moved his feet and threw a fast pitch that Julks swung at and missed.
Not so fast, said plate umpire Laz Diaz. The crew chief emerged from behind catcher Austin Wells and penalized Cortes for an infraction, adding an automatic ball to the count, making it 2-2. Cortes and New York manager Aaron Boone both disputed with Diaz, but without success.
“He called an illegal pitch. I don’t think it was,” Boone said. “Nestor was set and initially he told me he stepped off with his left foot first, which clearly did not happen.
He stepped off right. He just sped up his windup. I’ve got to look into it, but my first reaction is it’s not an illegal pitch.” In the end, all the hubbub didn’t matter much. Cortes struck out Julks with a full-count changeup, and the Yankees held on for a 4-2 victory.
“I’m not going to get into it,” Cortes said afterward. “It just happened. I guess it was an illegal pitch and that’s all I’m going to say.”
