Ryan Garcia
Carlos Lagrange lit up the radar gun for the Scranton RailRiders, the Yankees‘ Triple-A affiliate, in their 6-5 victory over the Rochester RedWings.
The right-hander delivered five innings of one-run baseball with eight strikeouts as he was sitting 100 MPH on his four-seam fastball in the outing.
He was off to a less-than-stellar start as a result of poor command, issuing walks and leaving hittable pitches over the heart of the plate for hitters to tee off of.
With the weather heating up a bit there’s some more gas in the tank for Lagrange, who has made some interesting changes to his pitch mix that could help him reach the Major Leagues.
READ MORE: Yankees’ Gerrit Cole looked sharp in Hudson Valley Renegades’ 10-2 win
Yankees Are Seeing Carlos Lagrange Evolve Even Further After Strong Spring Training
Following a Spring Training where fans wondered if Carlos Lagrange was ready for the Major Leagues, Carlos Lagrange has made some massive adjustments to his pitch mix.
He’s throwing a new 99 MPH sinker with 15 inches of armside movement that help him get some called strikes and soft contact, giving him another offering against right-handed batters.
The “slider” he’s throwing seems to be more of a cutter as it has 8.4 inches of ride at 90.7 MPH, a more distinct movement profile than the one he was throwing last season.
His fastball-changeup combination is still devastating, but Lagrange is learning to lean less on his four-seamer and mix up the usage rates to keep hitters off-balance.
In his last two starts his four-seam usage has dipped below 40%, and while his 4.00 ERA in those two outings would seem discouraging, the 32.5% K% and 5% BB% are indications that this adjustment could work well for him.
Right-handed batters aren’t going to be fooled much by the location of Lagrange’s four-seamer given the lack of deviation in expected and actual movement based on arm-slot.
The overpowering velocity makes timing it up an issue, but with the abundance of velocity in the league right now, hitters are more prepared now than ever before to deal with outlier velocity.
Having this new sinker means these hitters have to not only identify where the pitch is going to be, but they also have to decipher whether the pitch will be a four-seamer or sinker.
I’m super excited about what Carlos Lagrange could provide the Yankees in 2026 whether it’s in a starting or relief role because of how rapidly he takes to improvements.
Not only is he freakishly talented, but he has a level of buy-in with the organization’s coaches that cannot be expected out of every 22-year-old in the sport.
As I mentioned in my piece about Elmer Rodriguez, the strong production the Yankees have received from their MLB rotation does not make the success of their top pitching prospects any less important.
You’re one injury away from needed one or both of these arms in the Bronx, and if the team is hit with some catastrophic pitching news this summer, they have a good idea of who’s waiting to save the day.
More about:New York Yankees
