Nestor

Cortes

The deal is now official. Cortes has been optioned to Low-A Clearwater to continue working his way back from last year’s left arm surgery. The 31-year-old southpaw could potentially be an option, most likely as a multi-inning relief weapon, for the Phillies at some point in the closing stages of the regular season and playoffs. He’s compiled a strong 3.94 ERA across 602 1/3 innings in the majors, mostly as a starter, since 2018.

Cortes will get an MLB deal, which makes sense considering the deal will be prorated and there’s not much season left. The southpaw has not pitched since 2025 after undergoing surgery in the middle of October that year. While he has a starting background, there isn’t much time for to build into that role. A muti-inning option out of the bullpen for the remainder of 2026.

Cortes has been out for all of 2026 while recovering from surgery on his left arm. There’s no guarantee that the 31-year-old will be able to pitch in 2026, but he could be a potential multi-inning option for the final month — and potentially the postseason — for Philadelphia.

Cortes made the announcement on his X, formerly Twitter, account. Independent journalist Francys Romero adds that the 30-year-old lefty, who was limited to just eight starts this season between the Padres and Brewers due to injury, underwent surgery to repair a small tendon tear in his left arm. He’ll be a free agent in a couple weeks once the offseason gets underway.

Cortes will face those hitters Friday before the Padres’ game against the White Sox. The 30-year-old left-hander has been on the shelf since September 5 with tendinitis in his left biceps. He could be an option for San Diego in the postseason, but time is obviously running out.

The 30-year-old hurler has been terrible throughout the season, but was especially bad in Wednesday’s start against the Orioles where he served up four home runs in just 2 1/3 innings of work. Now it sounds like the biceps has been bothering him for a while and could be a part of the reason for his ineffectiveness. Ron Marinaccio was recalled from Triple-A El Paso in a corresponding move on Friday.

The last five runs came on three homers in a span of four pitches in the third. The first was a three-run shot from Colton Cowser, which was quickly followed by solo homers from Coby Mayo and Alex Jackson. Cortes has now given up 13 homers in eight starts, though 12 of those have come in three of the eight outings. Actually, 10 of them have come in three of his 34 1/3 innings. If Cortes stays in the rotation, he’ll face the Reds and Rockies at home next week, which would make him fairly intriguing in mixed leagues.

The 30-year-old southpaw also walked a pair of batters while striking out two. While he was probably going to be removed anyways, Cortes was ejected during a lengthy mound visit in the fourth inning, where he may have just been stalling to allow Wandy Peralta more time to warm up. Cortes got just five whiffs on 66 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll try to get back on track as he carries a 5.06 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a 27/17 K/BB ratio (32 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Orioles.

The 30-year-old southpaw struck out three batters on the evening. He retired each of the first 16 batters that he faced in the ballgame until Miguel Rojas smacked a one-out single in the sixth inning. He then retired each of the next two to strand Rojas at first. Cortes generated eight swings and misses on 81 pitches on the evening — five of them on his sweeper — while posting a strong CSW of 30 percent. He’ll look to replicate this outstanding performance as he brings a 4.66 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and a 25/15 K/BB ratio (29 innings) into Friday’s tilt against the Twins in Minneapolis.

The first inning was a disaster for Cortes. He gave up back-to-back jacks to Heliot Ramos and Rafael Devers, a double to Casey Schmitt and a two-run homer to Wilmer Flores. Not ideal. Credit to the southpaw for not allowing another run, but also, damage done. Cortes will try and get off to a better start against the Dodgers over the weekend.