Yesterday was an important day for the Yankees’ organization, as the Somerset Patriots had a chance to clinch their fourth consecutive playoff berth.
One of the top teams in Minor League Basbeall over the years, they won the Eastern League Championship in 2022 and made it back there last year, losing to the Erie SeaWolves.
Carlos Lagrange would take the bump in Reading to try and deliver a win for the Patriots, making what will be his final start of the Minor League season.
With the pressure on in this game, Lagrange would deliver one of his finest outings of the season, allowing just one hit and two walks across six innings of shutout baseball.
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From 2022-2024, Carlos Lagrange recorded just 95.2 innings pitched while sporting a 4.70 ERA, failing to record a win in any of his outings.
He struggled mightily in his Single-A debut last season, sporting a 6.91 ERA and 4.46 FIP as Lagrange walked over 18% of batters faced in five starts.
The Yankees made the aggressive decision to move him up to High-A to start the season after a strong Spring Training, a decision that’s paid off beautifully for the organization.
With 120 innings pitched and a 3.52 ERA, Lagrange has more than held his own at High-A and Double-A, looking like the kind of pitcher who could make the big leagues in the next year or two.
Command remains an issue for Carlos Lagrange, who walked over 12% of batters faced this year, but the command has improved from his first few years in the organization.
In his first nine starts with Somerset, he walked 17% of batters faced with a 3.49 ERA and 3.74 FIP, being a league-average pitcher who issued too many free passes to be in big-league consideration.
Over his last six starts, he’s cut the walk rate to just 11.4%, sporting a 2.76 ERA and 2.95 FIP, still leaving room to improve but getting more consistent in attacking the zone.
The improvements in command are ones that could give him a real chance of remaining a starter, although I personally would project him as a reliever.
I’d argue the biggest improvement for Lagrange has come in the pitch quality department, as he’s both a hard thrower and has excellent pitch shapes.
This data is via Lance Brozdowski and his top 40 pitching prospect update, where he ranked Carlos Lagrange as the ninth-best pitching prospect in baseball.
His fastball has added over two inches of ride from last season while throwing a little harder as well, and that new sweeper is a better version than what we saw in the Arizona Fall League.
Perhaps the most impressive pitch is his changeup, a pitch he’s thrown more and more as the season has gone on to great success.
That pitch is devastating, and it’s allowed him to develop a complete repertoire with the movement diversity to keep hitters off-balance.
If he ends up a starter, there’s a chance he could be a legitimate ace, and if he’s a reliever, I strongly believe he could be the long-term closer for the Yankees.
Carlos Lagrange is top five in strikeout rate among qualified MiLB pitchers, and it’s propelled him into a top-100 caliber prospect.
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