The Yankees kicked the Tigers’ teeth in during their home opener at George M. Steinbrenner Field, as they had the honor of ruining the days of lesser-known pitching prospects in Detroit’s system.
Of the five hardest-hit balls of this game, all of them came from the Yankees, and of the five hardest pitches thrown, they were also all thrown by the Yankees.
Aaron Judge’s two home runs were incredible, but neither were inside the top five for EVs produced by hitters that day (although they were the first and third furthest balls hit).
Even funnier, Carlos Lagrange produced all five of the hardest pitches thrown that day, and it was the theme of the day; Baseball Savant was ruled by the Yankees and their farm system in specific, who had a loud day in the ballpark.
READ MORE: Yankees beat Tigers as Aaron Judge and Spencer Jones join home run party
Carlos Lagrange Lived Up to His Prospect Status…For Better & Worse
Remember how I said that Carlos Lagrange produced the five fastest pitches of the game? Well I lied, sort of, he actually had the 19 hardest pitches thrown of the game and it was all 19 of the fastballs he threw that day.
His command was shaky in this outing which is the big drawback to Lagrange’s game, walking two batters in 2.2 IP but that wasn’t the only telltale sign of poor location.
When Lagrange was in-zone I felt as if he made plenty of mistakes and left pitches hanging; this is to be expected for someone who still needs at least half a season of work in the Minor Leagues.
The first start of Spring Training for Lagrange reminded me a lot of what Cam Schlittler went through during the 2025 Grapefruit League, where he walked 14.1% of batters faced and only struck out 18.3% of them.
Where these two differ is that while Schlittler took time to find that eye-popping velocity, we saw the outlier pitches that only a physical specimen like this 22-year-old can throw.
Carlos Lagrange has some of the best stuff in the entire sport, not among Minor Leaguers, but among anybody on planet Earth right now who pitches.
I was worried about how his four-seam fastball shape would contract with the Major League ball since it’s different from the Double-A ball, but he was rocking a calm 17.6 inches of IVB while sitting 99.8 MPH.
A lot of models will assign a 70-grade label to that pitch and I would too, as I would to that wicked changeup which sits at 91-92 MPH with good bite and run.
He throws two different sliders to complete the mix, David Cone made this point on the YES Broadcast but he has a starter’s mix and doesn’t need to add another pitch.
There’s a wide range of outcomes for someone with command struggles and a questionable track record of staying healthy, but I don’t think you have to squint hard to see a top 10 starting pitcher in the sport.
Spencer Jones Hit A Ball 408 Feet And I Think That’s Selling it Short
When Spencer Jones makes contact, the ball tends to go a very long way, and I simply cannot stop re-watching the clip of him vaporizing a baseball off of Major League pitcher Keider Montero.
He was throwing a lot harder than normal and think Montero can carve out a long-term role as a backend starter or swing-man for a contender, but that’s a different topic.
Jones’ mechanics look a lot more compact and don’t have the long-winded motions that they did previously with a big leg kick that only made getting to the right spot to do damage more difficult.
A big frame such as his makes it harder to be precise with movements, eliminating the leg kick and going to a toe-tap could result in more contact out in-front of the plate where there’s plenty of damage to be made.
I won’t take too much away from one at-bat, but I find Spencer Jones’ 2026 fascinating because this is quite literally do or die for him and this is a high-variance player.
Any progression in the contact rate, which could happen with quieter movements, could make him a legitimate big leaguer and the team could use a centerfielder at some point this season if injuries or underperformance occur.
When you hit the hardest ball of the game (111.7) which also happens to be the one that traveled second-furthest behind only Aaron Judge, you probably had a good day at the plate.
Did the Yankees Just See the Return of Brock Selvidge?
“The stuff has gone down the drain and its why he’s way down on this list.”
This was one of my lines in my Brock Selvidge write-up heading into the 2026 season, and oh my goodness I think he found the velocity he lost in that drain.
Selvidge was pushing mid-90s fastballs with good vertical movement that he was able to blow by some hitters including one of the Tigers’ top prospects Max Clark.
He was throwing a really nasty cutter as well around 90 MPH which has always been in the toolbag, but not at that velocity range.
There were some deathballs in there as well, tight sliders with tons of drop that didn’t have a lot of lateral movement which will make him really tough on righties if he can master it.
Brock Selvidge moved the ball well north-south but didn’t show the sweeper he’s thrown in years past, I think if he can throw the one we saw last season even we could be looking at a backend MLB starter again.
Now to be the fun police a little bit here, I don’t think Brock Selvidge will sit 95.4 MPH as a starter and see him being closer to around 93-94 MPH which is what we saw in the Spring Breakout Game back in 2024.
I also didn’t think his command was sharp, which has hurt him over the last two years and needs some work after he initially displayed some good strike-throwing traits as a teenager.
All-in-all this is arguably the biggest positive of today outside of maybe the fact that Carlos Lagrange’s four-seam shape didn’t get hurt too bad from the change to a Major League ball.
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