The Boston Red Sox rivalry with the New York Yankees is one of the biggest in baseball. When a player joins either side, they automatically become part of the folklore as fans track them for the rest of their career.
One of those moves happened this past offseason when the Yankees acquired Devin Williams in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. While Williams made an immediate impact with his new team, another player involved in the deal that was a former Red Sox rival made his debut on Saturday afternoon.
Former Yankees Pitcher Nestor Cortes Gets Shelled in First Start With Brewers
Nestor Cortes took the mound for the Brewers on Saturday and it just so happened to be against the team that traded him last offseason. With the Yankees ready to strike, Cortes was punished, coughing up home runs to Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge on the first three pitches of the game.
It was the first time in MLB history that a team had led off a game with three home runs on the first three pitches of a game. But the Yankees weren’t done when Cortes served a solo homer to Austin Wells later in the first inning and a three-run homer to Anthony Volpe in the bottom of the second inning.
After walking the leadoff batter in the third inning, Cortes's day was mercifully over, allowing eight runs on six hits and five walks with two strikeouts over two innings.
But it also was an alternate universe for Red Sox fans who had watched Cortes with the Yankees.
Cortes appeared in 13 games against the Red Sox as a member of the Yankees, going 2-0 with a 4.84 ERA. His last outing was arguably his best as he allowed one earned run over five innings with nine strikeouts in a 2-1, 10-inning win for the Red Sox on Sept. 12, 2024.
The 30-year-old fell out of favor with the Yankees over his use in a relief role late last season and after serving up a walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of the World Series, Cortes was traded along with infield prospect Caleb Durbin in exchange for Williams.
Williams won’t get the chance to make his Red Sox/Yankees debut until later this summer. But Cortes gives an early glimpse of what the Yankees gave up in that deal. While he won’t be directly involved in the rivalry, Saturday’s performance suggests New York may have gotten a steal which could influence how the rivalry unfolds.