Carlos Lagrange passed first bullpen test with flying colors after Yankees switch

If you're a New York Yankees fan who's seen enough of Paul Blackburn in 2026, you're not only joined by thousands of others in solidarity, but you'll also love hearing the latest update on the Yankees' No. 2 pitching prospect, Carlos Lagrange.

Less than 48 hours removed from the Yankees announcing that they were shifting Lagrange to a bullpen role in Triple-A, Lagragne stepped into that role and thrived. On Wednesday, the right-hander appeared in relief for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and dominated across four innings of work, allowing just one hit and striking out seven.

Lagrange's fastball touched 10.4 mph on the gun and sat at 98.5 mph on the day. If the Yankees can utilize him for multiple innings at a time, this will be a massive success.

Carlos Lagrange's strong outing aligns with the Yankees' important plans

The Yankees are obviously planning to add Lagrange and his magnificent velocity to the MLB bullpen in due time. Lagrange's standout spring training set up this plan for him all along, but the Yankees also wanted to keep him in a starter role in Triple-A for as long as possible, so as not to interrupt his development too aggressively. But the time has come for the planned change. Lagrange has the killer instinct that's ready for its next challenge, and, more importantly, the Yankees need him.

The 23-year-old's swing-and-miss capabilities will be very much welcomed by a Yankees 'pen that's been running on fumes since seemingly the start of the season. Lagrange has tallied 70 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched this season in Triple-A, with opponents batting .207 against him. His command still isn't polished (27 walks), but then again, the Yankees' bullpen isn't doing much better in that regard this season. David Bednar alone has already allowed 11 walks this season across 24 innings.

Yankees must ride the inevitable ups and downs of Carlos Lagrange's MLB arrival

Whenever Lagrange is called up to the Show, he's bound to mix in some troublesome moments with the brilliant ones. We saw this with Elmer Rodriguez when he debuted at the end of April. There's nothing wrong with this. Rodriguez was still encouraging overall.

Especially given the state of the Yanks' bullpen as compared with their rotation (Rodriguez filled in as a starter before Gerrit Cole was back), the Yankees should keep Lagrange on an ever longer leash than they did Rodriguez, and give Lagrange more runway to work with as he gets comfortable at the highest level.

What's the alternative argument, that you don't want too much chaos coming out of the 'pen? How can you possibly say this if you're the Yankees, while you employ Bednar as your closer, who is basically a based-loaded jam waiting to happen?

If you're going to roll with non-automatic relievers, at least put the ones with the best velocity on the mound. That's what is nice to see about this Lagrange development. Let's just hope the Yankees don't pull the plug on him too early if things aren't ideal out of the gate.

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