A Career Built on Details
The New York Yankees are shifting one of their top prospects to the bullpen in Triple-A, the YES Network reported, testing whether hard-throwing righty Carlos Lagrange could help the big league club before the trade deadline.
Lagrange, 23, entered the season as the 49th-best prospect in baseball. He's averaging 99.1 mph with his fastball in Triple-A this year and topped out at 103.1 mph—Per Statcast, 29 of the fastest pitches by a starting pitcher in the league belong to him, and 44 of the top 50.
The title of the job changes quickly; the explanation usually takes a little longer to catch up.
That kind of velocity is exactly what a bullpen lacking in it could use.
The Record He Leaves
Yankees relievers rank near the bottom of the league in average fastball velocity and swing-and-miss rate, pitching to a 3.59 ERA (tenth in MLB) and 3.44 expected ERA (sixth). They've managed a 26th-place finish in win probability added, reflecting several blown saves and messy setup situations.
"He's definitely got everyone's attention," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said 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."
Lagrange has worked as a starter in Triple-A this year, posting a 4.41 ERA across 11 starts and 49 innings. His strikeout rate sits at 29.0%, well above the 21.1% Triple-A average for starting pitchers. The walk rate of 11.5% lags behind the 10.3% average—control remains the biggest question if he transitions to relief.
The Part People Remember
The Yankees hold a 36-23 record, sitting one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East with a plus-98 run differential—best in the American League by 67 runs. Adding a power reliever could lessen trade deadline urgency, though a young pitcher with no MLB experience and no relief background would hardly be the full solution.
It's worth finding out what he looks like in the pen. That's the kind of roster experiment that makes sense when you've got nothing to lose and a velocity problem that won't fix itself.