Nestor Cortes was upset about piggybacking Clarke Schmidt because of old minor-league memories?

In a statement you don’t often hear from MLB players, Nestor Cortes said after piggybacking Clarke Schmidt against the Cubs on Sept. 7 that he was a little upset he was moved to the bullpen for that outing.

“Obviously, I was upset. I feel like amongst all the starters, I’ve been the workhorse here,” Cortes said after throwing 4 1/3 hitless innings in Chicago. “Once [Gerrit] Cole went down, they picked me to be the Opening Day starter; not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter. I had to switch my routine there, and now they do this.”

He did also say he would ‘never back down from a challenge’ and ‘you’re always going to get my best effort, no matter if I’m happy or not,’ and if a relief role is his lot for the rest of the season, ‘then I’ll accept it.’

Cortes made another start against Boston last week, and while we still don’t know what his role will be as the Yankees navigate six healthy starters around 12 games and two off days before the playoffs, we do now have an idea why Nasty Nestor was so upset in Chicago.

“Part of the reason I was upset was because I did piggyback in the minor leagues, and the guy in front of me was always the prospect, you know what I mean?” Cortes told Rob Bradford on the latest Baseball Isn't Boring podcast. “I was in the rotation because they trusted me enough to pitch every five days, but every time a guy got called up to pitch, or a guy got demoted to pitch, I was always the piggyback guy. So it brought back so many memories…I've done enough this year to be your workhorse and prove that I can do it every five days, so why me? That was basically my question. It could have been anybody, but for myself, it was like, why me? And that's why I was a little pissed off about it.”

That trigger, of sorts, was what led Cortes ‘to the comments that I made and kind of that pissy attitude that I had,’ but then again, given he was aces behind Schmidt…

“After I proved it in Wrigley, it’s like, dude, why are you complaining? You could do either or,” he said. “As far as money and getting contracts and stuff like that, you do want to start, because that’s what gets you paid, so you take care of your career somehow, and then, you perform, and then it's like, all right, it doesn't matter.”

Cortes would love to be one of the Yankees’ three or four starters in the playoffs, depending on how deep they go, but if his flexibility leads him to a bullpen role, so be it.

“I also said, I have 28 starts; it’s a full season, and regardless of what happens from here on out, I already have a full season under my belt,” Cortes said. “Obviously, I want to keep pitching, I want to pitch in the playoffs, but I told myself, if they put me in bullpen, who cares? I already made 29 starts and I've had a solid season. I won't say it's the best season, but it's definitely up there with a durable and above-average season.”