The New York Yankees gave their former teammate, Nestor Cortes, absolutely zero time to settle into his return to the Bronx.
Now a Brewer, the first three pitches that Cortes through in Saturday’s 20-9 loss were all deposited into the stands.
It didn’t get better for Cortes, who allowed eight runs in just two innings of work. No pitcher in MLB history had ever given up 5 home runs and walked 5 batters in a game without facing 35 batters. Cortes did it today while facing only 17 batters.
History for The Bronx Bombers. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/FFZUNPMWaq
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 29, 2025
Coincidence or not there was minor outrage online about the bats the Yankees were using.
Yes, their bats.
Longtime Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay explained that the Yankees were using different bats than years past.
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“The Yankee front office, the analytics department, did a study on Anthony Volpe and every single ball, it seemed like, he hit on the label,” Kay said. “He didn’t hit any on the barrel. So they had bats made up where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat will actually strike the ball.”
As Kay explained, the Yankees look to have a competitive advantage of moving where some of the hardest material on the bat is. It’s unclear if there are any other MLB teams currently exercising this practice, or if the MLB was made aware prior.
It’s certainly an unusual strategy, but its seemed to work in the young season. The Yankees blasted nine homers in their historic 20-9 win over the Brewers.
From changing their infamous facial hair policy to now changing the bats they use altogether, the Yankees seem to be doing whatever it takes to grab World Series title number 28.
Forcing more pitchers to make infamous history like Cortes did would certainly help.
