Yankees Rumors: SP Nestor Cortes Hits IL with Groin Injury; Greg Weissert Recalled

The New York Yankees are expected to place starting pitcher Nestor Cortes on the injured list with a groin injury, according to The Athletic's Lindsey Adler.

Reliever Greg Weissert will take Cortes' spot on the active roster, and Adler added the return of Clay Holmes is imminent.

Cortes' absence comes at a bad time for the Bronx Bombers.

New York's three-game winning streak is raising hopes the team's prolonged slide is over. If that's the case, then it will have to continue for the next week and change without one of the Yankees' best starters.

Through 23 starts, Cortes is 9-4 with a 2.68 ERA and a 3.41 FIP, and he's second in WAR (2.6) behind Gerrit Cole among Yankees pitchers, per FanGraphs.

One silver lining is Cortes will have plenty of time to recuperate before the postseason, as New York's regular season ends Oct. 5 against the Texas Rangers.

For now, manager Aaron Boone is facing a conundrum with his starting rotation. Boone is down to four healthy starting pitchers between Cole, Domingo German, Frankie Montas and Jameson Taillon.

Perhaps New York will lean on an opener rather than deputizing a clear replacement for Cortes. Clarke Schmidt went three innings to start the team's 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on June 16.

Whether he says so or not, general manager Brian Cashman might want a mulligan on the Harrison Bader trade. Jordan Montgomery, who went the other way in the deal, would be in the rotation if he were still wearing pinstripes.