Chris Davis is hitless with 11 strikeouts in 21 plate appearances to start the season - MLB

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis could not have started the 2019 season off worse. After an 0-for-3 performance on Thursday afternoon against the Yankees, which included three strikeouts, manager Brandon Hyde opted to pinch-hit for him with Hanser Alberto in the eighth inning against lefty Zack Britton. Alberto singled to put runners on first and second, but the Orioles couldn’t capitalize.

Davis remains hitless on the season in 21 trips to the plate. He has whiffed in 11 of those plate appearances. On the bright side, he has drawn four walks. Davis also started last season slowly, going hitless in his first 17 plate appearances before registering his first hit, a single, in the Orioles’ fourth game.

The major league record for consecutive games without a hit to begin the season by a non-pitcher is 23 by Eugenio Velez in 2011 with the Dodgers. So, Davis has a long way to go.

Davis, 33, was the third-place finisher in AL MVP balloting back in 2013, leading the majors in home runs and RBI with 53 and 138, respectively. He again led the majors in home runs in 2015 with 47. Since then, however, it has been a steep drop. Following his .923 OPS in ’15, Davis put up a .792 OPS in ’16, .732 in ’17, and a staggering .539 last year.

Davis is in the fourth year of his seven-year, $161 million contract. It hasn’t gone well for the Orioles.

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The Yankees placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.

The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days.

After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.

“I took two days off and when I got to LA and threw that first day, I didn’t feel right,” Cortes said Tuesday. “But it was first day coming back from pitching so I knew it was going to be nagging a little bit. So I waited a little bit.

“That second day in LA was when I said something because it felt like I had pitched yesterday. So I wasn’t recovering in time.”

Cortes is 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts and has particularly struggled later in outings. Opponents are hitting .447 when facing him for the third time in a game.

Last year, Cortes was an All-Star and went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.

Randy Vásquez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to take Cortes’ spot in the rotation and will make his second career start in Thursday’s doubleheader. Vásquez made his major league debut May 26 against San Diego when the Yankees needed a starter because Domingo Germán was serving a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.