The New York Yankees are preparing one of the ir top prospect s for a possible bullpen role. The club is transitioning hard-throwing righty Carlos Lagrange to the bullpen in Triple-A, according to reports from the YES Network, and will evaluate whether he can help the major league team ahead of the trade deadline.
Lagrange, 23, entered the season ranked as the 49th-best prospect in baseball. He's an extremely hard thrower, averaging 99.1 mph with his fastball in Triple-A this year and topping out at 103.1 mph. According to Statcast, Lagrange has thrown 29 of the fastest pitches by a starting pitcher in Triple-A this season, and 44 of the 50 fastest.
That is usually how club statements work: the wording stays calm while the room clearly has not.
Velocity and Secondary Pitches
Beyond the heat, Lagrange also works with a slider and changeup. His strikeout rate sits at 29.0%, comfortably above the 21.1% Triple-A average for starting pitchers, though his walk rate of 11.5% edges above the 10.3% average. Control remains the biggest question surrounding his transition.
On the season, Lagrange has pitched to a 4.41 ERA across 11 starts and 49 innings in Triple-A.
"He's definitely got everyone's attention," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Lagrange in spring training, via MLB.com. "I love where he's at. I would not be surprised if he is impacting us early, middle, later part of the season. I can just tell you, we're all very excited about his continued development and what we think he could mean to our team at some point."
Bullpen Context
New York's bullpen has been effective overall this season, pitching to a 3.59 ERA (tenth in MLB) and a 3.44 expected ERA (sixth), which is based on the quality of contact allowed. However, the re have been several late-inning misadventures. Yankees relievers rank 26th in win probability added, reflecting some blown saves and messy setup situations.
If Lagrange does make it to the Bronx as a reliever, he'd bring needed velocity to a bullpen that ranks near the bottom of the league in average fastball velocity—and not coincidentally, also ranks at the bottom in fastball swing-and-miss rate. The relief crew largely relies on ground balls and getting hitters to chase breaking balls and changeups out of the zone, rather than being overpowering.
It's worth noting control issues as a starter may not translate identically to a bullpen role, where pitch counts are shorter and the margin for error smaller.
Trade Deadline calculus
The Yankees currently sit at 36-23, one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, with a plus-98 run differential—the best in the American League by 67 runs.
Even if the Lagrange transition works out, it's unlikely the Yankees would pass on the reliever market at the trade deadline entirely. It could lessen any urgency to add a reliever, but the club would probably still look for experienced options over a young pitcher unused to big league innings—especially one unused to working as a reliever.