"Never in my life" - Carlos Rodon's wife Ashley can't contain laughter over Nestor Cortes' sly fake pitch against Guardians

For Yankees pitchers Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon, 2023 was a disappointing campaign on many fronts. Though injuries laid claim to both men last season, 2024 seems to be going in a much better direction for the pair.

During his Sunday start against the Cleveland Guardians, Cortes made a gesture that confounded fans. When facing Cleveland hitter Andres Gimenez, Cortes appeared to execute a fake pitch, followed by a swatting motion, before tossing the ball for an eventual foul ball.

"Nestor with the fake pitch in the middle of his wind-up" - Talkin' Yanks

The reaction from fans to Nestor Cortes' gesture ranged from bewilderment to condemnation. Known for his often-elusive delivery strategies, Cortes' move was tremendously amusing to Carlos Rodon's wife, Ashley.

Cortes' New York Yankees pitching teammate's wife took to her personal Instagram to share how funny she found Cortes' move. Captioned with the words "pump fake," Rodon shared a clip of the unorthodox delivery on her Instagram story accompanied by the laughing face emoji.

Ashley Rodon apparently found Nestor Cortes' "pump fake" move amusing.

After coming to the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants before the 2023 season, expectations were high for Carlos Rodon. However, the left-hander suffered a back injury in spring training and did not return to action until July. When he did return, Rodon appeared uncomfortable and finished the season with a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts.

A similar story was true of Nestor Cortes' 2023 campaign. Despite putting up a 12-4 record alongside a 2.44 ERA in 2022 to win his first All-Star nod, a rotator cuff injury limited the Cuban to just 12 starts last season, in which he registered a 4.97 ERA in just over 63 innings on the bump.

Strange "fake pitch" spur-of-the-moment decision for Nestor Cortes

The 29-year-old Cortes surrendered four runs in four innings as the Yankees fell to the Cleveland Guardians 8-7. However, despite the underwhelming outing, Nestor Cortes also found the delivery to be comical, telling MLB.com:

"Nothing is really planned when I go out there. I just kind of thought of it in the moment, kind of funny, but I thought it would work for me. He fouled it off. Just another windup that I do."

Whether or not this was a one-off gimmick or a new strategy for Cortes remains to be seen, but at least the rebounding ace got a few laughs out of it.