Rule 5 Target - Nestor Cortes - LHP

[Moose Milligan]

Lol, the Orioles stay out of the international free agent market but gobble up three rule 5 draftees.  Awesome.

[25 Nuggets]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Dan says they’re looking at him as a starter.   

Ceiling of Jered Weaver?

[panick]

12 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I actually really like this move. Cortes is the kind of player that you can find in a Rule-5 draft: an undervalued skill set. He's a soft tossing lefty. He doesn't have the velocity that will impress scouts and, as a result, people will always be skeptical of his success. That success may not translate to the Majors, but I think it's worth a shot to throw him into the No.5 starter mix and see if he can Jamie Moyer his way through lineups.

Or maybe he could work with Scott McGregor and be even better!

[jtschrei]

What's not to like? We get him basically for free. Isn't the NYY system loaded? I like the pick. 

[murph]

#4 on Philly's list. 

[Redskins Rick]

Roch posted this tidbit:

Quote

Seeking a left-hander for their staff, the Orioles chose 23-year-old Nestor Cortes from the Yankees organization. He’s 25-14 with a 2.08 ERA in 84 minor league games, including 40 starts, with 344 strikeouts in 324 1/3 innings. He pitched at three levels this summer, including Triple-A, and went 7-4 with a 2.06 ERA in 30 games (13 starts).

Executive vice president Dan Duquette said Cortes will compete for a spot in the rotation.

 

[Redskins Rick]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Ok.  Self congratulatory back pat.    I predicted who the O's would protect (Harvey, Wynns, Hess) and also predicted we would lose no one in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft.    Thank you.    Wildcard, where are you?

Does Cortes make the SR as the 5th starter?

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

Depends on who the Orioles acquire.   If the 5th spot is open, he'll compete with the usual suspects and Castro.   He has a fallback as being a long man in the pen.  I think there's a good chance he sticks but probably as a long man.

On the surface, his metrics are very appealing. Are the Yankees really that deep, that they couldnt keep him?

[interloper]

Y'all this might end up being the best player we acquire this offseason. 

I wish I was joking.

[Luke-OH]

47 minutes ago, murph said:

#4 on Philly's list. 

#1 and #2 had already been taken. 

I listed Cortes as a target for the O’s, he’s definitely an option as a starter.

He has really poor stuff, like you know how Alex Wells gets knocked for his stuff, Wells has better stuff than Cortes.

Cortes manipulates the speeds of all his pitches. Changes his windup, pace to the plate, and arm slot from pitch to pitch.  He does the Cueto thing where sometimes he just pauses mid delivery, sometimes he steps towards first base and throws sidearm across his body. He’s extremely unorthodox and despite the mechanical craziness, he still shows near plus command.

[Redskins Rick]

Just now, phillyOs119 said:

#1 and #2 has already been taken. 

I listed Cortes as a target for the O’s, he’s definitely an option as a starter.

He has really poor stuff, like you know how Alex Wells gets knocked for his stuff, Wells has better stuff than Cortes.

Cortes manipulates the speeds of all his pitches. Changes his windup, pace to the plate, and arm slot from pitch to pitch.  He does the Cueto thing where sometimes he just pauses mid delivery, sometimes he steps towards first base and throws sidearm across his body. He’s extremely unorthodox and despite the mechanical craziness, he still shows near plus command.

Poor Stuff?

Granted, his fastball is just 88-92, but from I was reading on the internet, he has at least 3 pitches that he can throw for strikes, who has very good control of his ball and is a pitcher that understands how to pitch.

Sounds a bit like a left handed Mussina.

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, phillyOs119 said:

#1 and #2 had already been taken. 

I listed Cortes as a target for the O’s, he’s definitely an option as a starter.

He has really poor stuff, like you know how Alex Wells gets knocked for his stuff, Wells has better stuff than Cortes.

Cortes manipulates the speeds of all his pitches. Changes his windup, pace to the plate, and arm slot from pitch to pitch.  He does the Cueto thing where sometimes he just pauses mid delivery, sometimes he steps towards first base and throws sidearm across his body. He’s extremely unorthodox and despite the mechanical craziness, he still shows near plus command.

Other than the deception, how does he differ from, say, TJ MacFarland?

[interloper]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

His stuff might be short but he throws his fastball past people.   Reminds me a little of Wei-Yin Chen in delivery.  

 

Watch some video Cortes here.   There are a bunch.

 

http://www.milb.com/search/media.jsp?player_id=641482

Ha, he does look like Chen.

[Just Regular]

Feels like a good candidate for a 50 G/100 IP type role if we step up our third time through the order game.

[murph]

34 minutes ago, phillyOs119 said:

#1 and #2 had already been taken. 

I listed Cortes as a target for the O’s, he’s definitely an option as a starter.

He has really poor stuff, like you know how Alex Wells gets knocked for his stuff, Wells has better stuff than Cortes.

Cortes manipulates the speeds of all his pitches. Changes his windup, pace to the plate, and arm slot from pitch to pitch.  He does the Cueto thing where sometimes he just pauses mid delivery, sometimes he steps towards first base and throws sidearm across his body. He’s extremely unorthodox and despite the mechanical craziness, he still shows near plus command.

Yea I saw they were gone early, made me wish we got one of those two even more!   That delivery should be entertaining to watch at the very least.  I like Cortes already!