Carlos Lagrange has decisively answered his biggest Yankees doubts

TAMPA — With four days left in a camp that he has been the talk of, Carlos Lagrange turned in four ho-hum shutout innings Wednesday with a fastball that averaged 99.6 mph — which he has made seem more ordinary than it should be.

Afterward, the top Yankees pitching prospect left little doubt about how confident he is feeling near the end of an impressive spring.

Asked if he feels like he is major league ready right now, the 22-year-old Lagrange did not wait for the question to be translated into Spanish.

“Yeah,” he said with a grin.

“I think the improvement in attacking the zone, being able to execute with two strikes, being able to put away guys with two strikes more consistently, staying calm on the mound, regardless of the situation. Doing that kind of gives me a good idea that I’m ready to compete.”

The Yankees have already sent the rest of their top pitching prospects across the street to minor league camp, but for now at least, Lagrange remains with the big club.

And while it is still unlikely he breaks camp with the team — in part because he has not yet thrown a single pitch at Triple-A, the rotation does not necessarily have an open spot for him, and the Yankees want him to continue starting before he could become a bullpen option — Lagrange has certainly left a strong impression.

“I don’t have any doubts he could help us right now,” said Austin Wells, who caught him on Wednesday. “I don’t know what the process is of what that’s going to look like, but the way he pitched today, he could definitely get a lot of outs for us.”

The biggest question with Lagrange entering camp was whether he could throw enough strikes to remain a starter long term. But that has arguably been the most impressive part of his spring, walking only four while striking out 13 in 13 ²/₃ innings with a 0.66 ERA. He has now thrown 11 straight scoreless innings over his last three starts, mostly pounding the zone along the way.

“He’s shown some pitchability and the strike throwing,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve obviously heard a lot about the stuff, but I’ve been excited about — again you see it today — the ability to land the secondary stuff, to get back in counts or to finish off at-bats. As good as his fastball is, it’s the secondary stuff that makes you really good. … There’s a lot to be excited about with him.”

Oswaldo Cabrera and his family were in tears Tuesday night watching their native Venezuela win the WBC over Team USA.

The Yankees utilityman said he texted former teammate Gleyber Torres, who starred for Venezuela, to thank him “for making 30 million Venezuelan people proud and happy for one night.”

“For the country, it means everything,” Cabrera said Wednesday morning. “I was explaining to a couple teammates [Tuesday] night, USA has too many good things. They are good in everything. They are good in baseball, they are good in hockey, they are good in soccer, they are good in basketball, they are good in everything. So that probably doesn’t mean [as] much as it means for Venezuela.

“We are not that good in too many things — talking about Olympics, talking about championships for basketball, all these things. “To have this championship in a sport for Venezuela is a big thing in Venezuela. For us, it means way too much.”

“For the country, it means everything,” Cabrera said Wednesday morning. “I was explaining to a couple teammates [Tuesday] night, USA has too many good things. They are good in everything. They are good in baseball, they are good in hockey, they are good in soccer, they are good in basketball, they are good in everything. So that probably doesn’t mean [as] much as it means for Venezuela. We are not that good in too many things — talking about Olympics, talking about championships for basketball, all these things. 

“To have this championship in a sport for Venezuela is a big thing in Venezuela. For us, it means way too much.”

The Yankees cut two more pitchers from big league spring training, reassigning right-handers Harrison Cohen and Carson Coleman to minor league camp.

That leaves 47 players in big league camp.

Veteran infielder Paul DeJong does not plan to opt out of his minor league deal with the Yankees on Thursday, noti.group’s Joel Sherman reported.

While DeJong could exercise an opt-out as an Article XX(B) free agent, his current plan is to try to make the team or begin the season at Triple-A, which appears more likely.