Another Soto jack has Cortes dreaming big

TAMPA, Fla. -- Count Nestor Cortes among those already dreaming big about the crooked numbers that Juan Soto will help the Yankees put on the board this season.

Soto launched his third spring homer Sunday, going 2-for-3 in New York’s 7-2 Grapefruit League loss to the Tigers. Soto is 6-for-9 (.667) with five extra-base hits through his first four exhibitions.

“When I get out of that first inning, it should be 2-0 by the time I go [back] out,” Cortes said. “It’s kind of like that 62 [home run] year that [Aaron] Judge had [in 2022], where everybody was expecting a homer. This time around, it feels like we need a run after that first inning.”

Or, as manager Aaron Boone described Soto’s performance thus far: “I feel like he’s going to kill the ball every time he swings.”

Cortes, who tossed four innings of one-run, one-hit ball in his second start of the spring, said that he doesn’t envy the opponents who will have to navigate the Soto and Judge tandem atop the order.

“I guess you’ve got to pick your poison; maybe walk both and face another guy,” Cortes said. “It’s something that pitchers are going to have to deal with, going into New York and knowing the kind of lineup that we have.

“Not only them, but go across the list; it’s pretty impressive, the names that are up there on paper. So hopefully, we just play to the backs of our baseball cards, and I think we’re going to be fine.”

Cortes surrendered a first-inning home run to Andy Ibáñez, but he otherwise remained in command throughout a 54-pitch effort, striking out three with a walk and throwing 36 strikes. Cortes said that his health feels “the best it’s been in a while.”

“I gave up the bomb, but everything else was kind of easygoing, throwing strikes and pounding the zone,” Cortes said.

Cortes even tinkered with his arm angle, adding one of his trademark leg-kick hesitations to induce a Zack McKinstry flyout in the second inning.

“Gleyber [Torres] was asking for it from the dugout, so that kind of led me to that,” Cortes said. “But once I started doing that and it starts feeling normal, too, then I feel like I’m in a good spot.”

Jeter-ian
A shortstop named Jeter ranging deep into the hole for a grounder, throwing across his body to first base?

As old Biff said in “Back to the Future II,” there’s something very familiar about all of this.

Jeter Downs opened some eyes with an impressive play to rob Gio Urshela of a fourth-inning hit Sunday, coming on the final pitch of Cortes’ outing.

Boone happened to be a guest on the YES Network telecast during the play, capturing his authentic reaction: “Oh! Wow! Hey now!”

“That was a great play,” Boone said. “That was a get-your-attention, stand-up play. That was impressive.”

Family ties
Sunday marked a memorable day at the ballpark for the Lombards, beginning even before the first pitch. Tigers bench coach George Lombard Sr. and Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr. each brought his team’s lineup card to home plate.

Lombard Jr., an 18-year-old shortstop, was the Yankees’ first-round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft. He made his professional debut late last season, appearing in four games for the Florida Complex League Yankees and nine games with Single-A Tampa.

“He’s off to such a good start in our organization,” Boone said. “It’s pretty cool to go up there and do the lineup card thing. To watch your kid play against you in a big league Spring Training game, it’s pretty neat. Junior’s got a bright future, he really does. I think he’s going to be really good.”