Throughout the playoffs and for much of the regular season, the Yankees lacked a reliever whose primary goal was to get strikeouts. Cortes fits that bill, and as a lefty, he could prove to be the Yankees’ best threat against Ohtani, the likely National League MVP after hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases as a designated hitter.

Nestor Cortes appears likely to rejoin the New York Yankees pitching staff for the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers

Nestor Cortes knows the risks he is taking by trying to pitch in the World Series, just a month after being diagnosed with a left elbow flexor strain. But the Yankees left-hander also knows how important he could be out of the bullpen against the lefty lane at the top of a Dodgers lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani,