The Yankees will put their two best pitching prospects front-and-center for the start of Spring Training as Elmer Rodriguez is slated to start on Friday and Carlos Lagrange on Saturday as the team opens the 2026 Grapefruit League.
Rated as the no. 1 and no. 2 pitching prospects in the organization in virtually every outlet, these two dazzled in the Minor Leagues last season as two of the best MiLB arms.
Lagrange struck out 168 batters faced and Rodriguez fanned 176 batters, being second and third on the 2025 MiLB leaderboards during the 2025 season.
With the implentation of Statcast data across all Spring Training ballparks, it will provide an opportunity for fans to access film and data on two pitchers who could make the jump to the big leagues this upcoming season.
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Yankees Will Kick Off Spring Training With Talented Pair of Starter Prospects
The Yankees are starting Spring Training with a bang as they will be rolling with their two best pitching prospects to get a starting nod on their road and home openers this weekend.
Elmer Rodriguez will get the ball in Sarasota to face off against the Orioles for the club’s first game of the 2026 Spring Training schedule, and he’s considered their best pitching prospect right now.
He flashed command of multiple fastballs and breaking balls while also throwing a strong changeup, moving the ball around the plate and relying more on his ability to deceive hitters rather than overpowering them with heat in-zone.
Rodriguez does sit around 94-96 MPH and has hit 99 MPH on the radar gun before, but his fastball shapes do not produce many swings and misses as his primary heater is a sinker which gets a lot of called strikes and groundballs.
For Carlos Lagrange, he has the eye-popping fastball velocity and was clocked at 102.6 MPH yesterday in a power-versus-power matchup against reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge.
The right-hander struggles with command and will issue more free passes than you’d like, but his freakish fastball velocity combined with a growing feel for secondary pitches such as his wipeout sweeper and hard changeup.
Lagrange will pitch in the home opener at George M. Steinbrenner Field against the Tigers, a game where the Yankees often don their pinstripes which will be a first for the right-hander.
While Elmer Rodriguez was already on the 40-man roster thus granting him an automatic invite to big-league camp, the Yankees extended a Non-Roster Invite to see how Carlos Lagrange will fare against some advanced competition.
Both could reach the Major Leagues in 2026 depending on their health and overall progress, with Brian Cashman not shutting down the possibility of using them as relievers if the Major League club needs it.
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