Yankees Made a Grave Mistake Calling Up Bradley Hanner Over Carlos Lagrange

It's safe to say that Bradley Hanner doesn't have a place with the New York Yankees. His stuff doesn't stand out; he has an 8.59 ERA and four home runs surrendered in 7 1/3 innings, and if he does become the next Paul Blackburn or Brent Headerick, that's a project for another season.

It's not something for pitching coach Matt Blake & Co. to figure out just before October baseball.

If anybody should have been called up in Hanner's spot, it's probably one of their top pitching prospects, Carlos Lagrange, who is fresh off the IL and pumping triple digits again. For Lagrange, you can see why the Yankees would have some cause for concern throwing him into the fire.

For one, he's still a rookie. Even though his stuff is dynamite, it's hard to project whether it will pan out in the big leagues until he gets there.

This is the case whether it's a series in late May or now, with the postseason around the corner. If he makes his debut against the Red Sox in the American League Wild Card round, you can see how that can get problematic for Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who would need his young arm to navigate his jitters as well as Boston's lineup.

Carlos Lagrange pitches. — Debuting Carlos Lagrange in the playoffs would be a risky move for the Yankees. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In a perfect world, the Yankees would need to consider all of this. Unfortunately, things aren't going as planned right now, and they're forced to make some tough decisions. Injuries to Clarke Schmidt and Ryan Weathers have put their bullpen plans in flux.

Now they have to see who's out there, and this week they've even tried Luis Gil in relief. Gil's four walks and no strikeouts in his most recent outing on Thursday likely won't translate well to postseason baseball, so right now, it's all hands on deck—especially since Gil and Hanner were optioned to the Florida Complex League shortly after the 6-4 win over the Rays.

The clock is ticking on a Lagrange debut

That's why the Yankees should have used this opportunity to call up Lagrange. If they were waiting for the right moment, or wanted a little more pomp and circumstance for their top pitching prospect, the time for getting cute like that is over. They need to see who is a viable option for that bullpen, and if there's a chance to see whether Lagrange is effective, he needs a shot.

Right now, the Yankees have three games left in 2026 against Pete Alonso's Orioles. One is a doubleheader, and the other is an afternoon game. Seeing as there will be an off day on Saturday, the Yankees should use this opportunity to use Lagrange against the Orioles in one of those games, and then again on Sunday.

In this scenario, Lagrange gets the day off to see how he recovers, then is back at it on Sunday. Then Boone can see what he has in the rookie.

It just doesn't make any sense for Hanner again, though. He shouldn't get a single postseason inning, whether the bullpen has depth or not. He's just a guy to eat up innings, and nothing more than that. Calling him up over Lagrange at the next opportunity would be another glaring mistake, to say the least.

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