Nestor Cortes Agrees to Major League Deal with Phillies

Nestor Cortes is headed to Philadelphia after agreeing to a major league deal with the Phillies, per beat reporter Robert Murray and Jon Heyman. The agreement is pending a physical.

Cortes, a crafty left-hander, is joining a Phillies rotation that has been navigating the back half of the season with the usual assortment of needs and contingencies. The deal adds a veteran arm to a club whose offense has surged in August — Philadelphia jumped to first in OBP and sixth in OPS in the month after ranking 30th in OBP and 23rd in OPS before August, per a recent report.

What we don't know yet

The terms of the agreement have not been reported, and the physical has not been confirmed complete. A timeline for Cortes's availability has not been disclosed in the material.

The Phillies have also been managing health elsewhere on the roster: Trea Turner exited a recent game after fouling a ball off his knee, though he was reported available off the bench the following day.

Cortes's agreement gives Philadelphia a left-handed option with a track record of generating weak contact — the kind of addition that tends to look quiet on paper until it isn't.