Nobody predicted that, after the first month of the Major League season, the Cuban pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. he would have more strikeouts than New York Yankees rotation ace Gerrit Cole or that he would be the best pitcher on the Bronx Bombers. But in baseball nothing is impossible, and what seems like a dream today can become a reality tomorrow.
The example of Cortés is one of the most eloquent. If we take a look at his numbers from his MLB debut in 2018 to 2020, the West Indian left-hander had a 6.72 ERA in 42 games and 79 innings of work, with 24 home runs allowed and an average of 4.3 walks per nine innings, Not an encouraging prospect for a boy who, at first glance, does not impress with his speed or his physique.
However, hard work, preparation and focus have allowed Cortés to drastically change the landscape in the last two seasons, to the point of becoming the leader in earned run average (1.41) in the American League during the current season. . But, in reality, his “explosion” occurred since 2021, when he began to give away dominant performances with the Yankees.
Between the last two contests, his ERA is 2.52 in 28 games and 125 innings, with 145 strikeouts, 16 home runs allowed and a dropping average of 2.6 walks per nine innings. In that period, he has only accepted more than two races in four challenges, and already has eight consecutive starts of these characteristics.
The highest points of his work in the current contest can be placed in a five-inning, 12-strikeout start (the top of his career) against Baltimore in mid-April, as well as his chair against Texas last Monday, May 9. At Yankee Stadium, in front of more than 33 thousand fans, the left-hander drew a jewel of 7.1 scoreless innings, with 11 batters retired by way of strikes and only one single in his account.
Cortes was giving a no hitter until the eighth chapter, when Eli White connected an unstoppable to the center. However, the highlight of this game lies precisely in the numbers, because in the history of MLB, from 1901 to date, only 123 pitchers -among tens of thousands- have managed to work seven or more innings without runs, at least 11 strikeouts and only one hit allowed.
The list is so exclusive that only one Cuban was on it before Cortés’s deed. We are talking about the stellar Luis Tiant, top winner among all pitchers on the Island who have seen action in MLB. On September 25, 1968, 53 years ago, “El Tiante” got a shutout against the Yankees after withdrawing nine episodes, with 11 strikeouts and only one undisputed in his account.
It shouldn’t surprise us that Cortés has emulated a legend like Luis Tiant, because he really is performing at the level of the best. The domain of him with the cutter It has been impressive and devastating for rivals, who only hit .137 against that pitch, with poor slugging of .294.
The southpaw has also thrown opponents off balance with a four-seam fastball that doesn’t go much beyond 90 miles. In six starts, he has used that weapon 186 times and has only allowed one extra-base hit, with an opponent average of .206 and slugging of .235. This performance shows that speed is not everything in the art of throwing…
Yordan Álvarez causes panic
Last Thursday night, Yordan Álvarez hit two homers and a double at Target Field in Minnesota. These three hits, combined, traveled an unprecedented 1,089 feet, and took the breath of the Twins fan. Only 24 hours later, the player from Las Tunas homered again in Washington, where the opposing fans were also amazed at his power.
Yordan has become the main pusher for the Houston Astros at the start of the season, in which he also disputes the lead in home runs with Aaron Judge. The star Yankees outfielder has 12 hits beyond the limits, and the Cuban is on his heels with 11, the most he has connected in the first 28 games of a season.
Not even in his spectacular start to 2019, Álvarez managed so many home runs, which speaks clearly that he is making better and better use of that gift that life gave him. If he keeps up the pace, Baseball Reference projections indicate that he could surpass the 50 home run mark and even reach 60. No Cuban has ever achieved such numbers.
We still have to wait for that, but Yordan is already setting some records. For example, with his home runs on Thursday against Minnesota, he reached ten games with two or more homers and became the third fastest player in history (in 260 games) to reach ten games with multiple homers, only surpassed by Gary Sanchez (216) and Gleyber Torres (240).
But there is more, that duel of two homers and a double is the 21st of his career with multiple extra-base hits, a figure that no other Cuban has achieved in the first 260 fights of his career. The one who has come closest is José Abreu, who got 20 multiple extra-base games in his first 260.
Looking at all the brands, we are invaded by the doubt of what will be the limit of Yordan Álvarez, a phenomenon who, let us remember, is only 24 years old.
Without looking: Yuli Gurriel wins the Gold Glove
Yulieski Gurriel had a dream night this Friday in Washington, where he hit his first home run of the season and managed to break a streak of 17 games without driving in two or more runs. As if that weren’t enough, the Houston first baseman also shone defensively, proving that his 2021 Gold Glove was no fluke.
In the sixth inning, after Juan Soto reached base on a hit to center, Josh Bell hit a slow grounder for the first that Gurriel fielded into the inside grass. Everything seemed to indicate that the play was only forcing at second, but José Altuve got the out at second base and returned the ball to first for Yuli to invent a fantasy play.
The man from Sancti Spiritus, after fielding the ground ball quite far from first, turned on the turbines and quickly returned to the base to capture Altuve’s shipment without looking!, and thus complete a spectacular double play that kept Washington without scoring options.
It was a play worthy of a Gold Glove, the award Yulieski won against all odds last season as the best defensive first baseman in the American League. The narrators of the duel were left with their mouths open, like many of those present at the Nationals Park, where the Cuban, it could be said, lived one of his best nights this season.
In addition to the fielding, the offensive resurgence was very important, and the player himself made it known after the end of the match. Gurriel was satisfied before the press and recognized some errors in his mechanics, something common when a player falls into a slump.
“I was standing differently (in the batter’s box) and I didn’t realize it. That happens sometimes when you don’t feel good at bat and start doing the wrong things, but Alex Cintrón (offensive coach) realized it”, he pointed out.
“I’ve been trying to make adjustments all this season, unfortunately it hadn’t worked out for me, but I’ve kept working, always a little bit more to be able to improve. Today has been a sample of this and I hope that it will continue.”
The charm of Chapman and Cionel is broken
Cuban left-handers Aroldis Chapman and Cionel Pérez had two of the best active scoreless streaks in the Majors. The Yankees closer from Holguín had 15 immaculate games, while the Orioles reliever from Matanzas already had 13 shutout games. But nothing in life is eternal, and this week the two saw their strings break.
On Wednesday, Chapman allowed one run against Toronto, though he did notch his eighth save of the season and 314th, 24th all-time alongside Robn Nen. Just 48 hours later, Cionel got his third hold of the contest despite accepting a score in the Baltimore-St. Louis duel, in which Dylan Carlson homered him.
These were the first races allowed this year by the two left-handers from the Island, who have been dominant and of vital importance to their teams. Chapman, for example, has pitched in 13 games and the Yankees have won 12, while Cionel has seen action in 12 and the Orioles have won half, a considerable number considering the franchise’s losing record.
By the way, the yumurino had never had such a long streak of games without allowing runs. In fact, before putting together these 13 games without scratching his card, his best mark was five games without goals in his account between his last two starts of 2019 and the first three of 2020.
As for Chapman, he has completed his last 22 save opportunities from July 2021 to this season.
Randy Arozarena, in trouble?
This week, the 2021 American League Rookie of the Year hit his first home run of the season after 118 plate appearances. That was the time it took Randy Arozarena from Pinar del Río to add some flavor to his campaign, which up to now has been slow and rather cold.
In his first 32 games, Arozarena has the worst numbers of his career in average (.223), on-base percentage (.266), slugging (.347) and OPS (.613), the result of a marked decline in most indicators that measure the quality of contacts. For example, the West Indian has the worst averages since his MLB debut in crucial factors such as speed (89.1 miles) and angle (3.7) of his hits, while 37.5% of his connections fall into the Hard Hit category ( batted balls over 95 miles), also a career low.
On the other hand, its performance has been affected by the decrease in its percentage of solid connections (4.5) and in the so-called barrels (3.4), those balls with an ideal combination of speed and launch angle. In these sections, Randy has also left the worst numbers of his four seasons in the Majors.
While Arozarena is making more contacts (his strikeout rate is down from the previous two seasons), it’s clear the quality of those connections has been below his usual standards. A clear example is that 58% of his hits have been ground balls, the highest rate of his career and the fifth highest among all Major League players in 2022, only surpassed by Eric Hosmer (60.2), Cristian Pache (60 ), Tommy Edman (58.7) and Thairo Estrada (58.4).
Another factor to consider is the variable roadmap of the rivals when they face it. For example, in the current season Randy has seen an increase in the use of breaking deliveries and his response has not been the best, with 15 strikeouts and slugging .333 against those types of pitches.
Given this scenario, it is very likely that Arozarena will need to correct some aspects of his mechanics at the plate to reverse the situation, something that he already managed to do last season after starting with some problems and indicators far from his real level.
