TAMPA — Last spring, Carlos Lagrange’s only taste of the spotlight came in a showcase for prospects.
This spring, the hard-throwing 22-year-old will get a chance to show the Yankees up close why he has begun to climb onto many of those Top 100 prospect lists.
Lagrange is a few days into his first big league camp and, judging by his first bullpen session, Saturday, there will be plenty of eyes on him as long as he is here.
A 6-foot-7 frame with a big arm that can reach triple digits will do that.
“We’re excited about him, for good reason,” manager Aaron Boone said. “His size obviously stands out. But just the downhill he creates with obviously a huge fastball, really good changeup and then the slider and the sweeper. For him, it’s just a matter of continuing to get better with the command and strike throwing.
“And on top of it, just one of those kids over there that you get really great makeup reports on. He’s a leader, takes initiative. He’s got a lot of the intangibles as well as obviously a ton of talent.”
Lagrange is coming off a big year for his development, when he stayed healthy and pitched to a 3.53 ERA with 168 strikeouts across 120 innings across High-A and Double-A.
The right-hander also made some strides with his command, which has been his bugaboo (and remains a work in progress) since the Yankees signed him as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic.
He walked just 12 batters in 41 ²/₃ innings at High-A before walking 50 in 78 ¹/₃ innings at Double-A.
The Yankees want to give him every opportunity to remain a starter, though some scouts believe he will eventually end up in the bullpen, which is also where he could make a more immediate impact in The Bronx — perhaps as early as this season.
“I want to show I can compete,” Lagrange said. “Try to help my teammates and the team, do whatever they want.”
General manager Brian Cashman has mentioned Lagrange (among others, including fellow top prospect Elmer Rodríguez) multiple times when talking about the pitching depth the Yankees have that could help fill spots in the bullpen.
Asked specifically Friday whether he would be comfortable with Lagrange or Rodriguez pitching in a relief role this season, he did not rule it out.
“It’s easy to always say you want to keep guys staying in the starting rotation and stay on their turn and be depth and continue their journey to build innings as they’re developing, but at the same time, you got to rob Peter to pay Paul at times and do that balancing act where you got to service the major league club,” Cashman said. “A lot of major league starters historically break in out of the pen, too, when they get their feet wet.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
