The New York Yankees traded this pitcher away to solve their closer situation this offseason and it might have been a blessing.

Nestor Cortes, who was moved to the Milwaukee Brewers for closer Devin Williams, was moved to the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his throwing elbow, the team announced. To take his spot, Milwaukee called up Grant Wolfram from Triple-A.

Yankees fans are familiar with the pitcher and the injury. He was on New York’s injured list last September with a similar injury. He did return for the postseason and pitched in the World Series, giving up Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman’s walkoff grand slam in Game 1.

Cortes, a left-hander, made two starts with Milwaukee, going 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA. He struck out eight and walked seven in eight innings. He led all of baseball with five home runs allowed when was moved to the IL.

All five of those home runs came against the Yankees on March 29 when he made his return to Yankee Stadium. He was the starter when New York beat Milwaukee, 20-9, in a game where the Yankees set a franchise record with nine home runs and debuted their torpedo bats.

According to Sophia Minnaert, the Brewers’ dugout reporter, Cortes had an MRI before his second start on Thursday but felt well enough to pitch. He does intend to get a second opinion and hopes it isn’t a long-term issue.

Cortes joins a long list of Brewers pitchers on the IL right now, along with Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale, Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, Brandon Woodruff and Robert Gasser.

Cortes went to the Brewers, along with second baseman Caleb Durbin, on Dec. 13 as the Yankees saw Williams as the solution to their closer situation.

The 30-year-old spent five of his first seven years in the Majors with the Yankees, as he was New York’s 36th round of the 2013 MLB draft from Hialeah, Fla.

He made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2018 after he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft. He pitched in four games before he was designated for assignment and signed with the Yankees.

New York kept him for the 2018 season, dealt him to the Seattle Mariners before the 2019 for international bonus pool cash, and then got him back on a minor league deal before the 2020 season.

His best season with New York was in 2022 when he went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts. He made his only All-Star game and he was eighth in American League Cy Young voting.