NY Yankees’ prospect Carlos Lagrange gives solid performance in Scranton debut

Yankees top prospect Carlos Lagrange impressed in his Triple-A debut on Sunday, March 29, against the Blue Jays’ affiliate Buffalo Bison, striking out three with no walks over the course of four innings for the Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders. Lagrange made the Yankees’ decision to leave him off the Opening Day roster as difficult as possible this spring, and if he continues building on performances like this, that decision will only get tougher.

What Looked Good in Carlos Lagrange’s Debut?

First and foremost, Lagrange was able to bounce back from a rough last spring training outing against the Cubs’ big-league lineup and perform against a strong Triple-A lineup. Of Lagrange’s three strikeouts, two came against Blue Jays number ten prospect Yohendrick Pinago, and the other came against Blue Jays number nine prospect RJ Schreck (PerMLB pipeline). Lagrange overall didn’t seem overmatched by any of the Bisons’ hitters.

Buffalo looked to challenge Lagrange on the platoon advantage, starting a combined five left-handed batters and switch hitters. He handled that challenge with grace as well.

While Lagrange’s defining pitch is his 70 grade 4-Seam fastball, which topped off at 101.3 MPH on Sunday, it has been his improved secondary and off-speed repertoires that have elevated his prospect status. That growth was on display, particularly through the dominance of his sweeper.

He threw the pitch 17 times and generated great results. Despite it landing in the strike zone 58.8% of the time, the pitch generated three whiffs on seven swings and a .160 Expected Weighted On Base Average on contact. Typically, sweepers are relatively ineffective against opposite-handed batters, but that did not stop Lagrange from deploying the pitch, as 11 of the 17 times he deployed the pitch came against left-handed hitters.

Where Lagrange Could Have Been Better

Lagrange’s fastball velocity was down to an average of 97.9 MPH. The easy explanation for this is the extreme cold temperature in Buffalo, with the “feels like” reaching a low of 33 degrees at first pitch. There is almost never going to be a scenario where he pitches in those types of conditions again, especially if projecting a summer call-up to the Bronx.

Lagrange got into some trouble in the third inning, giving up two ground ball singles to put runners on first and third with one out. Jonatan Clase then lifted a 108.6 mph fly ball for a sacrifice fly, the hardest contact Lagrange allowed all day. However, he quickly settled back in, going back to what has generated success all game by striking out Pinango on the sweeper.

Lagrange continued to show resilience after that scary inning, putting up a zero in the fourth, including generating a ground ball double play from Charles McAdoo for his last batter of the game.

The Yankees Have Something Promising in Lagrange

This was overall an encouraging outing for Lagrange, rebounding from a rough last spring training performance. While there is always room to improve, there is very little doubt about his ability to make an impact on the major league roster, and he continues to get closer to being a finished product.

If he can continue to build on this outing going forward, he will leave the Yankees no choice but to find a way to get him on the big league roster at some point.

The RailRiders would go on to beat the Bisons 5-4 in 10 innings to win the first game of a doubleheader.