Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/18/2023

New York Post | Angela Barbuti: Sometimes it doesn’t make sense that Nestor Cortes is even an MLB pitcher, but you don’t know how deep that runs. Nestor’s dad was arrested trying to flee Cuba in 1991, and only met the woman who would become Cortes’ mother after serving a prison term. Had Nestor Cortes Sr. successfully defected to the United States, who knows what would have become of his family life, but one way or the other that failed escape attempt paved the way for Nestor Cortes, Yankee pitcher.

New York Daily News | Bill Madden: The Yankees and Mets split their two-game Subway Series earlier this week, a perfect microcosm of the “meh” nature of both clubs’ seasons. The Yankees are in a better spot than the boys in Queens, in third in the AL East compared to the Mets’ current fourth-place sitting, but after two years of both teams being preseason hype favorites, they’ve been a bit of a letdown. New York may still be the center of the baseball world, but both teams see themselves on the outside looking in to the playoff picture.

Sports Illustrated | Pat Ragazzo: Harrison Bader may have lucked out in bypassing the dreadful 15-5 loss to the Red Sox on Friday night. The centerfielder was expected to be activated off the IL, but both player and club agreed he needed a little more work in the outfield before rejoining the team. Bader played for the Somerset Patriots yesterday and will get into one more game today, and should be activated ahead of Tuesday’s contest with the Mariners.