The Yankees’ 26-man roster for the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers has been announced ahead of Game 1 on Friday, and there’s one notable change.
Left-hander Nestor Cortes, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 18 against the Seattle Mariners due to a left elbow flexor strain, was added to the roster for the Fall Classic after missing the first two rounds of the postseason.
To make room for Cortes, utilityman Jon Berti, who saw action at first base as Anthony Rizzo worked his way back from injury, was left off the roster.
The decision to add the lefty pitcher isn’t a surprise after he threw 28 pitches in a simulated game at Yankee Stadium earlier in the week and said after that he expects to make the World Series roster.
Cortes was an important piece to New York’s starting rotation, going 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA (1.15 WHIP) in 174.1 innings across 31 games (30 starts). How the Yanks will use him against the Dodgers remains to be seen, but it likely will not be as a standard starter.
Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt have been announced as New York’s starters for Game 1, 2 and 3 and the team also has Luis Gil on the roster who got the start in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians.
But with Los Angeles’ lefty-dominant lineup, having Cortes coming out of the bullpen could be a big weapon for the Yanks who also have LHPs Tim Hill and Tim Mayza in the bullpen. Both have pitched well this postseason.
