Carlos Lagrange has been a sight to behold this spring.
His numbers speak for themselves -- he’s recorded a 0.66 ERA with 13 strikeouts and only six hits allowed over 13 2/3 innings. What’s more important, though, is how the 6-foot-7 righty has looked on the mound: utterly dominant with an arsenal that appears ready for prime time.
The 22-year-old has handled both lefties and righties alike this spring, attacking all four quadrants of the zone with an electric four-pitch mix.
COMPLETE YANKEES PROSPECT COVERAGE
Lagrange, the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline (No. 79 overall), remains a long shot to crack the Opening Day roster. The team’s rotation is full, and New York isn’t interested in having him fill a bullpen role at this time, so he’s likely headed for the Minors to stay stretched out.
However, Lagrange may be ready for the Majors right now. Here are eight nasty pitches that illustrate why.
THE FASTBALL
While many power pitchers lean on high-octane four-seam fastballs with elite rise to generate whiffs up in the zone, few can match Lagrange's velocity. The right-hander recorded MLB's fastest tracked strikeout of the spring when he blew away Toronto's Jesús Sánchez with an elevated 102.8 mph fastball on March 11, a game that saw him top out at 103.1 mph.
Rising fastballs aren't just effective up in the zone -- that same carry can be devastating at the knees, where hitters expect the ball to sink out of the zone. Here, Lagrange pumped a 102.1 mph heater that rode through the bottom of the zone and got a sword from Minnesota's Brooks Lee.
THE BREAKING PITCHES
Lagrange’s arsenal features two distinct breaking balls -- a harder slider with tight, late break, and a sweeper that gets extreme horizontal action -- and he's shown the ability to locate both for strikes against lefties and righties this spring.
The slider he threw to Boston's Braiden Ward for a swinging strikeout on Wednesday was especially filthy -- a 94.1 mph pitch that ended up behind the lefty hitter's back foot. To put that in perspective, Jacob Misiorowski (16), Braxton Ashcraft (2) and Tarik Skubal (1) were the only pitchers to record a strikeout on a slider that was 94 mph or faster in 2025.
Sweepers typically aren't as effective against hitters with the platoon advantage because the pitch moves toward the barrel and is easy to pick up. But Lagrange has had no qualms about throwing his to lefties this spring. He caught Max Ferguson looking with a back-door sweeper on Wednesday.
Lagrange has also shown the ability to dot his breakers on the outside corner to righties, like he did Wednesday with this sweeper against Kristian Campbell. Campbell recognized the movement and checked his swing, likely thinking it was going to break out of the zone, but it caught the corner for a strike.
And, of course, he also has the wipeout slider in his bag to get swings and misses out of the zone against righties, like this one he threw to the Twins' Ryan Jeffers. Lagrange followed that up with a sweeper just off the outside corner, getting Jeffers swinging for strike two, and then went up and in with a 102 mph gas for strike three. Diabolical.
THE CHANGEUP
Lagrange's changeup has also impressed this spring -- in fact, he's recorded more strikeouts with it (5) than any other pitch.
Three have come against lefties, including this one against Boston's Tsung-Che Cheng. The 92.2 mph offering had 16.7 inches of arm-side run -- nearly the full width of home plate (17 inches) -- and looked like a strike before dropping out of the zone. By the time it darted away, Cheng had already committed and was unable to check his swing.
Lagrange's changeup plays against righties, too, like this one he buried down and in to Detroit's Jake Rogers for a swinging K at 92.5 mph.
The Yankees likely don't want to rush Lagrange to the Majors when they don't need to do so. Even with Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole working their way back from injuries, New York has five starters ready to go.
But if Lagrange keeps pitching like this at the start of the season, they may have no choice but to find a spot for him in the big leagues.
When that happens, watch out.