Carlos Lagrange, already one of the New York Yankees’ most dynamic pitching prospects, is making a good case for himself this spring. The 22 year-old Dominican Republic native has made two starts for New York, tossing 5 2/3 innings to the tune of 6 strikeouts and a 1.59 ERA. But perhaps the most impressive thing, at least for his teammate Gerrit Cole, is Lagrange’s ability to crank up the heat on his fastball. The radar gun consistently flashed triple digits in both of his starts, with his fastball touching 103 mph, prompting the Yankees’ ace to remark, “It’s like, silly. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Cole isn’t the only one the young pitcher is impressing: manager Aaron Boone recently expressed his delight with Lagrange’s performance to the New York Post:
“We’re excited about him, for good reason….The thing I’ve been pleased with with Carlos is, obviously, the stuff jumps out at you, the big fastball and the slider/changeup are really good pitches for him, but the strike throwing’s been there.”
Standing at 6’7″ and almost 250 pounds, Lagrange is the definition of a hitter’s nightmare. If he’s able to keep improving at such a fast pace, he might just get his shot at the Show sooner rather than later.
Power Stuff
As Boone and Cole both said, the main thing that stands out with Lagrange is his velocity and ability to drastically change speeds. That translates to a lot of strikeouts, but a lot of free passes as well. Lagrange struck out 168 batters in 120 innings across High-A and Double-A last season, accumulating a 3.53 ERA with 62 walks. There’s no doubt that Lagrange’s stuff is almost already good enough for the big leagues, but he has to improve his command before he gets the call.
Carlos Langrange came in relief and threw seven pitches 101+ MPH
He pitched three scoreless innings with one hit, no walks, and four strikeouts pic.twitter.com/UtPyYy71LY
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) February 27, 2026
He already knows what he has to improve on, though, stating “I think the biggest improvement is commanding the strike zone better,” Lagrange said through an interpreter. “I had a full offseason that allowed me to train for the upcoming season. If there were any mistakes we wanted to fix, it gave me the opportunity to do that.” Having issued just two walks over those 5 2/3 spring-innings, it looks like Lagrange is already refining his biggest weakness.
Future Franchise Pitcher?
Lagrange already looks like a younger version of Paul Skenes, though they are less than a year apart in age. As the Yankees’ top pitching prospect (and 2nd prospect overall) according to MLB Pipeline, New York’s front office must be pretty content with his development, as well as the sheer abundance of talented young starting pitchers that they’ve produced over the past few years. Last year, Cam Schlittler was the standout rookie in New York’s rotation; though we likely won’t see much of Lagrange until at least next season, there is no doubt that the Yankees have another young, fireballing-phenom on their hands.
(Top Image Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
