Nestor Cortes felt good enough after his first day of playing catch Sunday that he did it again Monday. As the left-hander tries to , Cortes is hoping to become an option for the Yankees if their playoff run extends deeper into this month. I know [Sunday] went well, manager Aaron Boone said Monday before his teams of the ALDS. Everyone was encouraged by how it was. Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) reacts on the mound during the 4th inning at Yankee Stadium, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST After being diagnosed with the elbow i sue during the final week of the regular season, Cortes was shut down for 10 days before beginning to throw again Sunday. If he continues to respond well to the ramp-up, Cortes would likely need to throw a few bullpen se sions and then face hitters before the Yankees Bob Feller Jersey would feel comfortable activating him. He would be up against the clock to make it back in time for the ALCS, which begins next Monday, but would have a longer runway for the World Series (scheduled to begin Oct. 25) if the Yankees make it there. Explore More Either way, Cortes would almost certainly be , which would still be valuable to the Yankees. I know [Sunday] was encouraging enough to know that at some point, it could be a po sibility, Boone said. The Yankees did not fly to Kansas City after Monday nights game (as they usually would do), instead opting to work out at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday before flying out in the afternoon ahead of Wednesdays Game 3. If they had flown after Game 2, the Yankees would not have gotten in until around 3 a.m. Tuesday, though it would have given them a chance to work out at Kauffman Stadium. This way we sleep in our own beds, Boone said. We get to use our own facilities and guys can get a lot more done here than they would there. There might have also been some hotel i sues [Monday night] with the Chiefs playing Monday Night Football [in Kansas City]. Boone said he was happy for Terry Francona, who was hired as the Reds new manager after taking this season off to addre s health concerns. Pretty cool, Boone said. It sounds like he had a really good year off, so him being in the game, I think we would all agree, is a pretty good thing. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto were named finalists for the Hank Aaron Award, honoring the most outstanding regular-season offensive performer in each league. Judge won the award in 2022 after breaking the AL single-season record with 62 home runs. There are 10 finalists for each league. The Yankees were one of four teams with two finalists, joining the Orioles (Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander), Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman) and Phillies (Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber). Additional reporting by Dan Martin Daniel Espino Jersey