Yankees shift Carlos Lagrange to bullpen, eye quicker big-league path

The Yankees turned Carlos Lagrange’s Triple-A assignment into a direct path to the Bronx, moving the 23-year-old right-hander from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rotation to the bullpen. The switch is meant to speed his big-league timeline without closing the door on his future as a starter, and Aaron Boone said the club will need several weeks to get him comfortable with shorter outings and pitching on an every-other-day schedule.

For Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the change is more than a routine roster note. It removes one of the organization’s most electric arms from the rotation and places him into a relief mix that now has a power arm built for shorter bursts. That is the Yankees’ bet: Lagrange’s velocity may translate more quickly in one-inning work than in a starter’s workload, giving the club a better chance to turn premium stuff into usable major league depth sooner.

The raw numbers explain why the Yankees are willing to try it. Before the move, Lagrange went 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 11 Triple-A starts, striking out 63 and walking 25 over 49 innings. Opponents hit just .215 against him, but the fastball was the headline, averaging 98.9 mph and reaching 103.0 mph. He threw the 29 fastest pitches by a Triple-A starter this season and 46 of the 51 fastest pitches overall at the level, a staggering display of how overpowering his arm strength has been.

Boone said the Yankees still view Lagrange as a starter long term, but see a real chance for him to help the big-league bullpen in 2026. That view was reinforced in spring training, when Lagrange impressed in major league camp before being sent back to minor league camp. Gerrit Cole said he had “never seen anything like it” when talking about the velocity, and Austin Wells said late in camp that he had no doubts Lagrange could help the Yankees right away.

The organization has reason to be patient and aggressive at the same time. Lagrange signed out of the Dominican Republic in February 2022 for just $10,000, then began touching the upper 90s four months later in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. MLB Pipeline lists him at 6-foot-7 and 248 pounds, with a 2026 ETA and scouting grades that fit the profile of a possible late-inning weapon: fastball 70, slider 60, cutter 55, changeup 55, control 45, overall 55. If the relief trial sharpens his command and preserves his high-octane stuff, the Yankees may not need to wait long to see that arm in New York.