Dan Cortes

Daniel Adam Cortes (born March 4, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.[1] He also played in the Kansas City Royals organization.

This article is about the baseball player. For the actor, see Dan Cortese.
Dan Cortes
Cortes with the Seattle Mariners
Pitcher
Born: (1987-03-04) March 4, 1987
Pomona, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 24, 2010, for the Seattle Mariners
Last MLB appearance
September 12, 2011, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Win–loss record0–3
Earned run average5.06
Strikeouts9
Teams

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Cortes began his professional career in 2005 with the Rookie-Level Bristol White Sox of the Appalachian League. While playing under manager Jerry Hairston, Cortes went 1–4 with a 5.17 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 15 games, even started. Baseball America ranked Cortes as the 22nd best prospect in the White Sox organization.[2]

In 2006 Cortes began his season with the Class-A Kannapolis Intimidators of the South Atlantic League. He went 3–9 with a 4.01 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 20 games, 19 starts. He was then traded to the Kansas City Royals along with pitcher Tyler Lumsden in exchange for pitcher Mike MacDougal on July 24.[2][3]

Kansas City Royals

Cortes finished the 2006 season with the Class-A Burlington Bees of the Midwest League. He went 1–2 with a 6.69 ERA with 30 strikeouts in seven games, all starts.

In 2007 Cortes played for the Class-A Advanced Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League. He went 8–8 with a 3.07 ERA with 120 strikeouts in 23 games, all starts. He was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 20 to August 26.[4] Cortes was again awarded Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 27 to September 2.[5]

He played for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League in 2008. Cortes went 10–4 with a 3.78 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 23 games, all starts. Before the season he was ranked as the second best prospect in the Royals' organization by Baseball America.[6][7] He was also named to the Texas League All-Star team.[8] He did miss playing time while on the disabled list.[9] The Royals recognized Cortes as the top pitcher for the Double-A Naturals and he was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League at the end of the '08 season.[10][11]

In January, 2009 Cortes received the "Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year Award" from the Royals.[12] He attended spring training with the Royals in '09 as a non-roster invitee.[13][14] Cortes was named a "Player to Watch" by MLB.com before the season.[15] He went 6–6 with a 3.92 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 16 games, 15 starts with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals. On July 10 he was traded by the Royals with Derrick Saito to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Yuniesky Betancourt.[16][17]

Seattle Mariners

After the trade Cortes was assigned to the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. Cortes went 1–5 with a 4.94 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 10 games, all starts. He was added to the Mariners 40-man roster on November 20.[18]

On December 12, 2011, the Mariners announced via their Twitter feed that Cortes had been non-tendered along with catcher Chris Gimenez.[19][20]

Washington Nationals

Cortes signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals on January 4, 2012. His contract was voided on February 29, after he failed his physical with the Nationals.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Cortes signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 15, 2013.

Personal life

Cortes, who had taken a summer job at a sporting goods store, was taken bowling by his new co-workers and when he attempted to leave the bowling alley he was stabbed after trying to break up a confrontation between his co-worker and the stabber.[21] His co-worker died and Cortes was hospitalized.[21][22] He questioned if he would be able to pitch again since the injury was on his throwing arm.[21] He did however make a full recovery.[21]

I told the guys I was going to leave and they said OK, they'd come too and we started to walk out...There were three gangsters outside and they picked a fight with one of my co-workers. I tried to mellow everyone out, but I got caught up in it and two guys tried to fight me. I started fighting and I got stabbed eight times.

— Dan Cortes, MLB.com: November 7, 2008.[21]

On January 1, 2009, Cortes was arrested on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[23][24] According to police accounts, Cortes was arrested after he allegedly urinated on a fence outside Grub's Bar & Grille.[23][24] After five hours in jail, Cortes was released when he posted a $655 bond.[23][24]

References
  1. Scott Merkin (June 9, 2005). "White Sox lean toward pitching depth". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  2. Jon Heyman (July 24, 2006). "White Sox trade for MacDougal". Sports Illustrated. si.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  3. "ChiSox acquire MacDougal; Soriano far behind?". ESPN. ESPN.com. July 25, 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  4. "Cortes Claims Carolina League Pitching Award". OurSports Central. oursportscentral.com. August 28, 2007. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  5. "Cortes Once Again Named League's Pitcher Of The Week". OurSports Central. oursportscentral.com. September 4, 2007. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  6. Dick Kaegel (January 23, 2008). "Notes: Aviles, Hardy win awards". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  7. Josh Leventhal (January 23, 2008). "Kansas City Royals Top Ten Prospects". Baseball America. baseballamerica.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  8. Dick Kaegel (August 25, 2008). "Ka'aihue named Double-A's top player". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  9. "Cortes placed on DL, Hayes promoted from Wilmington". OurSports Central. oursportscentral.com. April 23, 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  10. Dick Kaegel (August 29, 2008). "Royals recognize top Minor Leaguers". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  11. "Five Naturals Selected by Royals for Arizona Fall League". OurSports Central. oursportscentral.com. August 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  12. Dick Kaegel (January 7, 2009). "Royals Awards winners announced". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  13. "Texas League: Several Naturals Join Royals In Major League Camp". NWANaturals.com. arkansasbusiness.com. February 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  14. Frank Novak (February 13, 2009). "Several Naturals Report to Major League Spring Training". Northwest Arkansas Naturals. web.minorleaguebaseball.com. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  15. Jonathan Mayo (March 22, 2009). "10 Royals prospects to watch". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  16. Bob Dutton (July 10, 2009). "Royals acquire Betancourt from Mariners for two minor-league pitchers". KansasCity.com. kansascity.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  17. "Naturals RHP Cortes dealt to Seattle Mariners". Northwest Arkansas Naturals. web.minorleaguebaseball.com. July 10, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  18. "Mariners add six to 40-man roster". NBC Sports. rotoworld.com. November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  19. #Mariners non-tender RHP Dan Cortes and C Chris Gimenez. 40-man roster is now at 36.
  20. "Mariners non-tender right-hander Dan Cortes and catcher Chris Gimenez (mlb.com)". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. December 13, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  21. Kevin T. Czerwinski (November 7, 2009). "Cortes making most of second chance". Major League Baseball. mlb.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  22. Dick Kaegel (March 4, 2009). "Cortes uses past as motivation in camp". Major League Baseball. kansascity.royals.mlb.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  23. Greg Johns (July 10, 2009). "Newly-acquired Mariners' pitcher was recently arrested". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. seattlepi.com. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  24. "Naturals pitcher Dan Cortes arrested". wmctv.com. Associated Press. July 2, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
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