West Sacramento Athletics manager Mark Kotsay knew the drill from months of exercising it. Another game was on fire, and he needed someone who could at least let it burn itself out, so he went to Carlos Cortes in the bottom of the eighth inning, the bases loaded with Mariners and four runs already in.
And Cortes did his duty, inducing Victor Robles to fly out modestly to right field to end the inning. Seattle still led, 16-1, but Cortes did the required work. Then he went out again for the ninth because it was still 16-1 and the A's didn't really need him to be the left fielder any more. And, predictably, he got kicked around the lot because that's what left fielders asked to pitch tend to do.
He walked Cal Raleigh. Then he walked Julio Rodriguez. Then he walked Brock Rodden. Then he gave up a two-run single to Cole Young and a sacrifice fly to Michael Arroyo. Eventually he did get out of the inning, though, because Carlos Cortes does the required work, even if it takes a bit. This was his ninth appearance as a pitcher this year, which truly is remarkable given that he is indeed an outfielder by trade. But the A's get beaten by a lot a lot. In his nine appearances, Cortes has entered games in which they trailed at the time by an aggregate score of 129-20, so he gets an extraordinary amount of mop duty. He is The Other Ohtani, or at least that's how he should be marketed.
Cortes is not unusual in this regard, at least. Brett Sullivan, the Rockies backup catcher, has pitched seven times this year, and so has Reds backup catcher Jose Trevino, most recently Friday night when he closed out the final two innings of Cincinnati's narrow 20-0 loss to Milwaukee. As recently as 2022, utilityman Hanser Alberto of the Dodgers took the mound in 10 games for a team that won 111 games. Baseball Reference didn't bother to list those last two as a pitcher in the biographical summary at the top of their pages. But Cortes? "Outfielder, pinch hitter, pitcher." Plain as day.
Plus, as if that weren’t enough, he is also an ambidexter, having played part of a game at third base a year ago, and throwing right-handed because that's what you do at third base. He is lefthanded for pitching purposes, though as he closes in on double digits in games to go with his double-digit ERA, the time might have arrived for him to try it right-handed. The A's are already E'd in the standings, plus they just fired a bunch of people in the front office to save money before the lockout so it's not like they've still got goals to reach.
Cortes pitching righty in his 10th appearance would be a worthwhile novelty for the sun-baked few who watch the Athletics get battered each night. His negative WAR as a pitcher this year is still at least closer to replacement than his negative WAR as a batter. In his 9 1/3 innings of work, he has allowed 15 hits including four home runs and 11 earned runs, with an ERA of 10.61. That places him slightly better than the mean among the 56 position players thrown into the barbecue pit this year. Besides, Kotsay tends to save him not just for games in which they trail by double digits, but games on the weekend, when the crowds are bigger and more festive, or at least drunker. Somehow Cortes didn't get called into the 13-1 defeat to Detroit on July 31, maybe because Kotsay knew he'd need him two days later in an 11-0 loss, and you wouldn't want to give a team a second look at the same guy if you can avoid it. We're not sure what the A's marketing department views as an opportunity for outreach, but after this many years under John Fisher's obstinate lack of stewardship, dignity is hardly the issue.
With barely two weeks left in this lost season and next season already entering the woods without a compass, the moment is now for Cortes to perfect the concept of the utility player in the most utilitarian way of all. He's certainly game for another game, as the A's are always up for being down by 10.
