As he continues adjusting to his new role out of the bullpen, Carlos Lagrange delivered the goods on Sunday.
Lagrange, the Yankees’ No. 4 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 72 overall, struck out a pair in a scoreless seventh inning Sunday. The flamethrowing righty helped preserve a narrow lead for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in an eventual 5-4 win over Columbus.
Lagrange began the inning with a strikeout, getting Dom Nuñez to chase a filthy slider down and in after working the count to 2-2. Lagrange then issued a walk to Dayan Frias but received some significant help from his defense. After Lagrange sent a pickoff attempt sailing past first base, a fortunate bounce landed near second baseman Jonathan Ornelas, who then nailed Frias as he attempted to advance to second.
With the hot-hitting Cooper Ingle (CLE No. 3) at the plate with two outs, Lagrange had to work hard again in a full count. Ingle fouled off two two-strike sliders before Lagrange earned the K, inducing a foul tip with a changeup at the knees.
COMPLETE YANKEES PROSPECT COVERAGE
This was the first scoreless outing for the 23-year-old Lagrange since he began appearing in relief on June 3, though it was also the first time he worked just one inning. He ran his fastball up to 100.9 mph and earned a pair of whiffs on the slider.
Though the Yankees maintain that Lagrange has a future as a starter in MLB, they’re experimenting with a bullpen role for the Dominican Republic native, with an eye on potentially accelerating his ascent to the big leagues. An excellent Spring Training has turned into a 3.96 ERA for Lagrange in Triple-A, including a 2.19 mark since moving to the 'pen.