Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) talks with pitching coach Chris Hook during spring training workouts Saturday, February 15, 2025, at the American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Despite five-game World Series collapse, Nestor Cortes insists Yankees were ‘better team’

The Dodgers' 4-1 World Series win may say otherwise...

Nestor Cortes has always been a fan favorite in New York. A reliable presence in the Yankees’ rotation since his return in 2021, Cortes was beloved not just for his quirky delivery but also for his steady contributions on the mound. Now, as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, he’s still coming to terms with how last season ended – though his view on the Yankees’ World Series loss might not find common consensus, even among the Yankees fanbase.

Nestor Cortes, speaking with The Athletic from Brewers camp, made it clear that in his mind, the Yankees were the superior team despite their five-game defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

To say the Yankees were the better World Series team would ideally warrant a ring. But there’s no ring. So, it’s hard to agree with that…

‘We were the better team’

The Dodgers finished the 2024 regular season with a 98-64 record, then went on to win their second championship in five years, dispatching the Yankees in five games. On paper and to the naked eye, Los Angeles was the better squad.

Nestor Cortes believes the Yankees were the better team in the 2024 World Series pic.twitter.com/kAPh4Hc3b3
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 26, 2025

Not according to Cortes.

“We had done enough to win that game,” Cortes said, referring to Game 1, in which he surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman. “They can talk whatever they want to talk, but we win Game 1 – which we should have – we lost 2 and 3, we win Game 4 and we should have won Game 5. Then we go back to L.A. up 3 to 2.

“So people can say it slipped away from us, people can say we made a lot of mistakes, which we did. But at the end of the day, we were the better team. I see it that way, and I’m sure everybody in that clubhouse sees it that way.”

Cortes acknowledged that New York simply didn’t capitalize on opportunities, allowing the Dodgers to control the series. “It didn’t happen that way, and they deserve all the credit in the world,” he added. “They won the World Series. At that moment, they showed they were the better team.”

The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2009, and after falling short again in 2024, their focus is on finally getting over the hump.

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Fans won’t have to wait long for a rematch between last year’s Fall Classic opponents – the Yankees and Dodgers will meet at Dodger Stadium starting May 30.

For Cortes, though, the what-ifs of last season will likely linger a little longer.

Brewers

Nestor Cortes

World Series

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

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Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.