Aaron Boone defends on using Nestor Cortes: ‘I feel convicted in that, even today’

Given a day to think about his decision to use Nestor Cortes instead of Tim Hill to face the heart of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone would do it all over again.

With the Yankees leading Game 1 of the World Series 3-2 in the tenth inning, Cortes came into the game with runners on first and second and one out. His first pitch resulted in an out when Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani fouled out to left fielder Alex Verdugo. But as Verdugo caught the ball, he stumbled over Dodger Stadium’s short wall down the left field line and fell into the crowd. The out counted, as he held onto the ball. But going out of play resulted in the two runners getting an automatic base. New York elected to intentionally walk Mookie Betts, setting the left-handed throwing Cortes up for a theoretically favorable matchup against the left-handing hitting Freeman.

Only, it wasn’t so favorable for Cortes and the Yankees, as Freeman hit the first pitch he saw into the bleachers.

The second-guessing of Boone started the moment the ball left Freeman’s bat. Cortes, normally a starting pitcher, came into an inherited inning. Tim Hill, another left-handed pitcher who, as a reliever is used to coming in with runners on base, was still available. Furthermore, Cortes hadn’t pitched in over a month while recovering from an injury. Hill, meanwhile, has been one of New York’s most used and most effective relievers throughout the postseason. Why Cortes instead of Hill?

Before Game 2, Boone was interviewed by Tom Verducci, who asked the manager about the decision. Boone quickly re-affirmed his decision, saying “I feel convicted in that, even today.”

“With one out there and Mookie probably being in play, I like the matchup for Nestor,” Boone said. “With Tim, the ball’s gonna be in play and probably Mookie is gonna come into play, with the tying run already at second. So I felt like Nestor was the best answer there. And I feel like if Nestor gets that pitch in maybe a little better spot with Freeman, we get a different result. But that’s baseball. And that’s why they’re really good and playing here too. But yeah, I feel really convicted about that part.”

“I feel convicted in that, even today. With one out there and Mookie (Betts) probably being in play, I like the matchup for Nestor (Cortes)… I felt that Nestor was the best answer there.” – Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Game 1 of the #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/h9R6zOKRME

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 27, 2024

Feeling that Cortes is more likely to get a strikeout is fair. Hill, even at his best, pitches to contact. Cortes, meanwhile has averaged more than a strikeout per inning throughout his career. That said, one out with runners on first and second isn’t a classic strikeout spot. The Dodgers weren’t going to score there without a hit, walk, stolen base or mistake from the Yankees on defense. Any two outs, even two deep flyouts, would have suited New York fine.

He’s also spot on in his analysis that had Cortes’ pitch in a different spot, it likely wouldn’t have been a home run. Of course, we can say the same thing about literally every pitch that’s ever been thrown in a baseball game — from T-Ball to MLB and all spots in between.

Boone has been subjected to a lot of criticism in his tenure as Yankees manager. While not all of it is fair, the criticism around using Cortes instead of Hill is. And if the Yankees go on to lose the series after having Game 1 in their grasp, the criticism will only get louder.