Aaron Judge reveals strategy against former All-Star teammate Nestor Cortes as Yankees dominate Brewers

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge revealed the approach the team took against former squad member Nestor Cortes who's now a part of the Milwaukee Brewers. Judge said that the gameplan was to get aggresive in their own zone. He also attributed the team's familiarity with Cortes, as the pitcher played 126 games for the Yankees.

At the end of the 2024 season, Cortes was sent to the Brewers in a deal that sent Devin Williams to the Yankees. The lefty starter made his Brewers debut in a homecoming in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon.

However, things went south quickly, as he issued three home runs in the first three pitches with Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge treating his pitches as target practice.

Expand Tweet

"Goldy set the tone. We had a good plan going in. We know Nestor, he's been here for years," said Judge. (0:16-0:21)

Judge said that Paul Goldschmidt's leadoff homer laid the groundwork for the Yankees' field day as the strategy of being aggresive came to fruition.

"We just try to go out there and be aggressive on our zone. Goldy and Belly set the table and got things going." (0:26-0:32)

On a personal note, Judge shared that he had to catch his breath and slow things down, as the place was already buzzing after the team's hot start.

"The place was rocking once I stepped up there. I was just trying to control my breathing and try to get a good pitch." (0:33-0:38)

Although they are on opposite sides of the field now, Judge had nothing but kind words to his former teammate and his approach to the game.

"He's one of the best lefty pitchers in the game. He's a guy that's gonna go out there, throw strikes, attack you." (0:22-0:25)

Nestor Cortes gets rocked in Yankees homecoming

After giving up perhaps the most famous walk-off home run (and grand slam) to Freddie Freeman in the 2024 World Series in his last appearance for the Yankees, Nestor Cortes had a nightmare debut for the Brewers at Yankee Stadium.

Expand Tweet

Cortes gave up three consecutive home runs in as many pitches to Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Judge to start off the contest. The lefty also issued a home run to former battery mate Austin Wells to make a grand total of four at the end of the first.

He gave up another home run the next inning to Anthony Volpe, which forced manager Pat Murphy to pull the plug and insert Connor Thomas. Cortes finished the game having issued five home runs and eight earned runs on six base hits with five walks and two strikeouts in just two innings.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

Know More

Edited by Bhargav