Bleeding Yankee Blue: NASTY NESTOR GIVES AN OPTIMISTIC INJURY UPDATE

Well, at least not out for long....we hope. Sitting out with an injury sucks, but he is staying optimistic, and we all hope it stays that way. I think we are all tired of bad news in general, especially with Spring Training right around the corner.

I will admit, I always look forward to the World Baseball Classic and I wanted to see Nestor Cortes pitch in it.... but as much as I wanted to see that happen, I want him to be ready for the start of the season. We need that hamstring to heal. That is more important, and that might still be in jeopardy, but Nestor gave an update to the media yesterday and I hold on to the same hope that he does, read more HERE.

I love his spirit and hope he will be ready like he says but I think the Yankees need to be very cautious and make sure he doesn't take the mound before he is ready. As much as I like hearing he thinks that 15 to 20 innings should make him ready for the season I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I think we all realized just how important Nestor is to our rotation. No disrespect to Gerrit Cole, but I thought Nestor should've started Game 1 of the ALCS last season because he was our ace. I still think he could be again, but he had a groin injury last season and had his highest workload in his career with 158.1 innings thrown. It's more than what his body is used to and now we add a leg injury before the season even starts. We just can't get rid of the damn injury bug even during the offseason and it is annoying.

I hope Nestor is back much sooner rather than later but giving the proper rehab time is the most important thing here. Side note.... I'd really like the share some ideas with our strength and conditioning staff. I'm all for working out but, Nestor needs to mix up his workouts. I bet all of our guys do, honestly. Pilates have a purpose too, not just running sprints, especially for a pitcher.

I hope that's not rocket science for our trainers but.... I think it is.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa