Jeats? Cortes' latest start features head-turning new cleats

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As the old saying goes, shoes make the man. This, of course, was established long before Yankees starter Nestor Cortes trotted to the mound against the Twins on Saturday wearing a pair of denim cleats.

Not just denim, mind you, but custom Nike duds crafted from what one can only assume was at one time a very fine pair of cutoff shorts, back pockets and all.

“I think they look better from afar; that’s my opinion,” manager Aaron Boone deadpanned afterward. “But they were creative and unique. I’ll give them that.”

The shoes were the brainchild of Cortes and Miami-area artist Marcus Rivero, who goes by the name Soles by Sir. Their relationship is simple: Cortes throws out some ideas and Rivero brings them to life. In this iteration, Rivero also added his own flair in places, like a mustache patch that mimics Cortes’ signature facial hair on the back of one shoe.

“I told him I wanted to go denim,” Cortes chuckled after he worked 3 1/3 innings during New York’s 10-7 loss at Lee Health Sports Complex. “I didn't know he was going go out all that much.”

While Spring Training is about trying new things, it’s also about getting work in, so regardless of the general consensus on Cortes’ fashion statement, he and his shoes still had work to do on Saturday.

CleatGate is only OK to joke about because, other than Cortes’ final line, there wasn’t anything negative about the outing. Coming from a guy who missed significant time last season with shoulder issues and spent much of the offseason working to avoid a recurrence this year, the positive post-outing report made a much louder statement than even jean cleats (jeats?) could.

“Since early spring, I said the hardest part for me is going to be building up, just because I haven't pitched in a while,” Cortes said. “... Tomorrow's going to be a big day for me. See how I recover, see how I wake up. But … it's pretty good right now.”

Cortes reported to camp this spring determined to regain the All-Star form that earned him the nickname “Nasty Nestor” in 2022. He was hampered by a right hamstring strain and a pair of left rotator cuff strains in ‘23, but he spent time with the club’s medical staff this offseason to build up his shoulder and entered Grapefruit League action with confidence.

Entering start three, all was going as expected: Cortes was limiting damage, fine-tuning his repertoire and building his endurance. And after he confirmed that Saturday’s nine-hit, six-earned-run blip wasn’t due to any discomfort in that diligently strengthened shoulder, it was safe to blame the day on the strong Florida wind that was blowing out, the jeats or both, and move on.

After an uneventful first, Cortes opened the second with a 10-pitch battle against Christian Vázquez that ended with a single. Another single and the walk that followed prompted Yankees catcher Austin Wells to head to the mound for some reassuring words.

Matt Wallner went down swinging, but Carlos Santana launched a personal assault on Cortes’ footwear on the next play with a comebacker that nearly skimmed the fringe on his right cleat before Cortes scooped it up with a backhand and fired home for the forceout.

Byron Buxton’s bases-clearing triple came next and earned Cortes a hook for the frame. Due to a rarely-used Spring Training rule that allows a starter to re-enter a game, Cortes and his light-blue fashion statements got another turn in the sun when they trotted back out for the third and part of the fourth.

In the grand scheme of baseball, Saturday’s outing was a throwaway. Cortes’ sweet jeats, however, remained the talk of the town.

“Maybe we’ll have to put them in the back of the rotation,” Boone said with a grin.

“Those are being retired today,” Cortes said with a laugh.

Bumps and bruises
• Nick Burdi tweaked his ankle fielding an infield popup in the sixth and fell to the ground. Burdi popped right back up but was visited by Boone and members of the Yankees' training staff as a precaution. Boone said postgame that the injury appeared minor.

• Yankees’ No. 16 prospect Jorbit Vivas was hit in the head by an 83.7 mph sweeper in the eighth inning. Vivas, a left-handed hitter whose batting helmet has an extension to protect the right side of his face, took the ball off that guard, which prevented a much grimmer outcome. Boone said the initial feedback postgame was that Vivas “seemed OK.”