Amid scrutiny following a 9-19 stretch, New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes struck a defiant tone with a tweet after the All-Star Game.
“Everyone talks down about the Yanks but they wanna be us. It’s a privilege to wear pinstripes. Every year we are in contention. I’m blessed to be able to compete for a playoff spot and always be contenders at the end,” Cortes wrote on X on July 16.
Despite their recent slump, the Yankees (58-40) remain in contention. Cortes, in his second stint with New York, has made the playoffs in three of the four seasons he’s played there. The team reached the American League Championship Series in 2019 and 2022 but lost their wild-card game against the Boston Red Sox in 2021. Cortes played for the Seattle Mariners in 2020.