This might be Nestor's weirdest windup yet

April 14th, 2024

Weird windups are back, and they’re weirder than ever.

In the second inning of his start Sunday against the Guardians during the Yankees' 8-7 loss in Cleveland, Cortes started to deliver an 0-2 pitch to Andrés Giménez before going into his dipsy-doodle leg kick. The dipsy-doodle move he’s broken out in the past. What was new this time was Cortes then did what we’re going to call a "pitch fake" before actually throwing the ball, which Giménez fouled back.

"Nothing is really planned when I go out there. I just kind of thought of it in the moment," said Cortes, who allowed four runs over four-plus innings. "[It was] kind of funny, but I thought it would work for me. He fouled it off. Just another windup that I do."

Cortes went with a more traditional delivery on his next pitch to Giménez, who put the ball in play and reached on a fielding error.

It will be interesting to see if Cortes busts this move back out the next time he faces Shohei Ohtani.