Nestor Cortes is coming off what he called “a career year” and is making a case for one of the people responsible for his development returns.

Pitching coach Matt Blake is a free agent and while both he and general manager Brian Cashman have expressed a desire to keep him in The Bronx, he didn’t have a new deal as of Monday night.

Asked if he’d like Blake back, Cortes said Monday, “I really hope so. He and his staff got me to where I am in my career. I told him during the season we need him back next year.”

Blake was credited with guiding a Yankees’ staff that had a lot of success in the regular season and Cortes was especially good.

“The way he communicates with us is excellent,’’ said Cortes, who turns 28 next month. “He wants to know how we feel and our opinions on things. That’s what makes him great. He’s a smart guy and knows what he’s doing.”

Cortes was honored on Monday at the ALS Association Greater New York Lou Gehrig Legacy Gala at Chelsea Piers, where he was still lamenting the Yankees’ loss to the Astros in the ALCS.

He’s begun rehabbing the strained groin he aggravated during his Game 4 start in The Bronx, when Cortes’ injury led to his stuff evaporating and his season ending with a game-tying three-run homer by Jeremy Pena.

Cortes is optimistic he’ll be able to avoid a similar injury next season.

He added the work he did with the strength coaches and trainers was instrumental in the increased velocity Cortes used to great effect this season, averaging a career-high 91.7 mph with his fastball.

It resulted in Cortes throwing a career-best 158 ¹/₃ innings and if he’d thrown just 3 ²/₃ innings more, the left-hander would have finished seventh in the majors with a 2.44 ERA.

But the groin injury, originally suffered in August, proved to be too much to overcome against the Astros in Game 4 before Houston went on to beat the Phillies in six games to win the World Series.

Cortes said he “barely watched” the series after the Yankees were eliminated.

Still, of the Astros, Cortes said, “I think they were the best team in baseball. They deserved to win. They came out and showed who they were. They were a complete team, offense, defense and fielding. … They swept us and hopefully we can turn that page.”