Chad Jennings

cjennings@lohud.com

The Yankees have added a fifth pitching prospect to their Arizona Fall League contingent.

Left-hander Nestor Cortes, after a strong showing at four different levels this season, has been added to the Scottsdale roster. According to vice president of player development Gary Denbo, the Yankees were allowed to add Cortes after another organization's starting pitcher went down with an injury.

Yankees pitcher Brody Koerner will step into the Scottsdale rotation, and Cortes will take Koerner's spot in the bullpen.

"Nestor is a strike throwing left hander with plus (fastball) command and an above average (changeup)," Denbo said in an email. "He does a great job of changing speeds to keep hitters off balance and disrupt their timing."

Cortes has pitched very well throughout his pro career, but he's just now starting to create a bit of prospect buzz. He missed the first month of the season and was still named a mid-season All-Star with Low-A Charleston. He wound up pitching as both a starter while making stops at every level from Charleston to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. All told, he pitched to a 1.53 ERA with a 0.80 WHIP and 115 strikeouts through 106 innings. In his lone Triple-A appearance, he started and went 5.2 innings without a hit.

A 36th-round pick out of high school in 2013 -- part of the same class that landed Dustin Fowler in the 18th round, Tyler Webb in the 10th, Nick Rumbelow in the 7th (plus Aaron Judge and Tyler Wade in the earlier rounds) -- Cortes is still a year away from Rule 5 eligibility, and he seems to be pitching his way onto the radar.

Cortes will turn 22 in December and has put himself into that world of minor league curiosities. Not much hype or prospect attention, but the guy has a career 0.96 WHIP with 9.8 strikeouts per nine and a 5.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Worth having no the radar.

The Yankees now have two starting pitcher (Koerner and James Kaprielian) plus three relievers (Cortes, Dillon Tate, J.P. Feyereisen) playing for Scottsdale in the Fall League.