New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange has received a rather discouraging outlook on his future.
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange is one of the most intriguing prospects in all of baseball and is one of the most interesting arms to watch in Spring Training.
There is a whole lot to like about Lagrange. He has touched 103 mph on his fastball, his 6-foot-7 frame gives him a devastating arm angle and his breaking stuff is absolutely filthy on top of that.
But does he have a future as a frontline ace this league?
Fangraphs doesn't seem to think so, projecting Lagrange to become a reliever rather than a starting pitcher.
"We think it’s worth continuing to develop Lagrange as a starter, and that he has a puncher’s chance of developing into a five-and-dive type," Fangraphs wrote. "But if nothing else, using those extra reps to further hone his weapons and command in service of a relief career also works just fine. It’s almost needless to say at this point, but he’d have closer upside out of the bullpen."
Here's the problem, though: Lagrange's most prominent issue thus far in his career has been his command.
While the 22-year-old racked up 168 strikeouts over 120 innings of work between Single-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in 2025, he also issued 62 walks, good for a rather high average of 4.7 free passes per nine frames.
New York Yankees equipment. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.What's more, since joining the Yankees' minor-league system back in 2022, Lagrange owns an alarming lifetime 5.2 BB/9.
That's not something you want from a reliever considering that they will sometimes be entering games with men on base.
Now, Fangraphs is specifically projecting Lagrange to be a closer, which means he will be starting a fresh inning more often than not, but you still don't want your high-leverage relievers throwing a ton of pitches and putting guys on base.
Not that you would want that from your starters, either, but it's definitely more manageable when you're pitching five-plus innings rather than just one.
Lagrange definitely has closer stuff, but if he is able to build up his endurance and iron out the kinks in his game, he also has the potential to develop into an electrifying starting pitcher on the big-league level.
The right-hander is already looking terrific in Spring Training, so we'll see if he has a chance to actually get called up to the show at some point in 2026.
If not, we will certainly hear his name in future seasons ... unless he gets traded.
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