TAMPA, Fla. – Carlos Lagrange knew he’d be on the mound when he walked into George M. Steinbrenner Field on Monday morning, having been told to expect a three-inning live batting practice session. The Yankees’ top pitching prospect (No. 2 overall) didn’t know who he’d be facing.
Standing sixty feet and six inches from the reigning American League MVP a few hours later, Lagrange first thought: “Damn, it’s Aaron Judge.”
Then the right-hander snapped into execution mode, offering another glimpse of the high-octane arsenal that has the Yankees buzzing. Matched in a power vs. power showcase, Lagrange faced Judge three times, adding what manager Aaron Boone described as “some drama” to the team’s first full-squad workout.
“That’s a big thing to walk into, for a guy that hasn’t been over here,” Boone said. “And it didn’t seem like a big thing to him. It’s fun to watch all that unfold.”
In their first matchup, Judge fouled off a pitch before barreling a 99.3 mph heater down the middle, launching it over the left-field wall. The 22-year-old watched it for a moment, snapped his glove and asked for a new ball.
“It went far,” Lagrange said, with a smile.
A chance for redemption came quickly. After working the rest of a group that included Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, Lagrange saw Judge again. Three pitches later, Lagrange gassed a 102.6 mph fastball by him, a pitch he set up with a nasty sweeper that dove into the dirt.
“You can look up at the radar and see a 103 mile-an-hour fastball he threw by me,” Judge said. “But I think it’s also just the presence he has on the mound. He’s a kid that we sent up some nasty lineups against us today, and he didn’t care. He wanted to be out there, and he came right after us.”
The velocity came as no surprise to Lagrange.
“I know 102 is really hard, but I work out hard in the offseason,” he said. “When you do a really good job in the offseason, that’s the result.”
Their third showdown may have been the most telling. With two strikes, Lagrange shook off catcher J.C. Escarra, determined to finish Judge off with heat. Judge connected, sending a deep fly ball toward left-center field, where it fell near the warning track for what would have likely been an out.
“I just want to keep working on those things,” Lagrange said.
These live BP at-bats won’t be found in any box score, but they carry weight. Judge is gearing up for his role as Team USA’s captain in the World Baseball Classic, set to depart on Feb. 28, while Lagrange is trying to make a lasting impression in his first big league camp.
Both hitter and pitcher considered Monday’s workout productive. For everyone else, it felt like a slice of July dropped into February. Consider the captain impressed -- not just by the youngster’s velocity, but his swagger.
“That’s what you need if you’re going to play in the Bronx,” Judge said. “You’ve got to have that demeanor, that it doesn’t matter who’s in front of you or what happens. So I’m excited about him, excited about his stuff. His personality and presence -- he’s going to be a special player for us.”