Joel Sherman suggests Brian Cashman is eyeing another aggressive Yankees decision

When the New York Yankees signed some Triple-A pitching depth this week in the form of Peter Strzelecki, all eyes began monitoring Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. Was the Strzelecki signing a signal that Cashman was about to move one or two of New York's young, talented arms up from Triple-A to help the MLB bullpen?

Furthermore, if this were to happen, who would Cashman and the Yankees decide to call up? Elmer Rodriguez flashed enough quality during his brief stint as an MLB starter this season to deserve a bullpen role. Yovanny Cruz looked ready for the part, too. Flamethrower Carlos Lagrange also wowed the entire baseball world in spring training and has since been waiting in the wings in Scranton, where he lit up the radar gun once again on Wednesday night and pitched into the sixth inning for the first time all season.

Well, brand new intel from The New York Post's Joel Sherman emerged on Thursday night revealing that Cashman and the rest of the Yankees' leadership have been discussing a promotion for Lagrange. It sounds like it's a matter of "when" in 2026 this'll happen, not if.

Carlos Lagrange joining the Yankees' bullpen has felt inevitable for months

Back in late February, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake acknowledged that Lagrange joining the Yankees' MLB bullpen at some point in 2026 was a distinct possibility. However, he also asserted that keeping Lagrange in a starter role (albeit in the minors) for as long as possible in 2026 was also important, as the Yankees see him as a starter long-term.

This was also when Aaron Judge was openly lauding Lagrange and his 103-mph fastball in the press, and Yankees fans were going wild. Lagrange's excellence in spring training only added fuel to the hype. In four appearances (13 2/3 innings), Lagrange tallied a 0.66 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts, with his fastball averaging 100.2 mph. Alien-like stuff.

Yankees fans, understandably, were calling for Lagrange to make the Opening Day roster, especially with the Yanks' 'pen looking suspect (as it still does now). In fact, many fans were even down to have Lagrange begin the season in the Yankees' rotation (in hindsight, Ryan Weathers was a good choice, but Luis Gil making starts for this team? Not so much).

The decision to delay Lagrange's call-up looks decent enough now that we're 56 games into the season and the Yankees are within a game and a half of the division lead. If Lagrange ends up joining the bullpen and finds considerable success, and if the Yankees keep winning, Cashman, Blake, and the rest of the Yankees' leadership will have apparently managed this situation quite well.

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