Nestor Cortes had to pull out of the World Baseball Classic with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, but Aaron Boone is confident that the lefty will be ready to go for the start of the season.
“I do think it’s minor enough,” Boone said. “He’s been able to kind of keep it going. He’s doing running and working out, keeping his arm going. There’s a chance he could be on the mound by this weekend.
“Not too concerned that it’s a long-term thing. I would expect him to be ready to go at the start of things. I think he’ll be pitching for us down here, it’s just a matter of how much volume he could build up to.”
Cortes, an All-Star last season, saw easily his highest workload in 2022 as he cemented himself as a fixture of the rotation, and questions linger about how he will rebound from that in 2023. The hamstring injury wasn’t a good start, but Boone told reporters on Wednesday that Cortes will be throwing off a mound again soon, and it will just be a matter of getting him ready for a full season workload in what will be an abbreviated spring for Cortes.
But as for the start of the season, Boone expects Cortes to be ready to go.
“Long term, I think we’re OK,” Boone said. “It’s just when he gets ramped up here in the next week or so, what his on-ramp looks like.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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