Yankees Manager Describes 'Difficult Decision' Regarding Carlos Lagrange

The hard-throwing righty has turned plenty of heads this spring

Feb 21, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange (84) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning in a Spring Training game at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

New York Yankees right-handed pitcher Carlos Lagrange has been one of the most heavily discussed prospects in spring training. With Opening Day quickly approaching, though, the Yankees had to decide whether the 22-year-old would start the year in the majors or minors.

Lagrange, MLB Pipeline's No. 79 overall prospect for 2026, has been reassigned to minor league camp, New York announced on Thursday. But Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the hard-throwing righty "made it a difficult decision" to keep him off the Opening Day roster, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "Coming into this, I wouldn't have even thought there was a decision," Boone said. "So he's definitely got everyone's attention."

Boone also elaborated on his expectations for the Yankees' top pitching prospect this year. "I would not be surprised if he is impacting us early, middle, later part of the season," Boone said, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. "I don't know, but I can just tell you we're all very excited about his continued development and what we think he can mean to our team at some point."

Max Fried joins other Yankees teammates in expressing high praise for Carlos Lagrange

Sep 7, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried (54) pitches the ball during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images | Mark Smith-Imagn Images

At the end of the day, it's not surprising that Lagrange will begin the year in the minors. Despite his tantalizing triple-digit fastball and 0.66 spring training ERA, the 6-foot-7 righty has just 16 Double-A games under his belt and no Triple-A experience yet.

Nonetheless, the 22-year-old undoubtedly stood out this spring and caught the attention of multiple Yankees players, including Gerrit Cole and Austin Wells. And left-handed pitcher Max Fried became the latest future teammate of Lagrange to share his thoughts on the talented flamethrower.

"I've never seen velocity like that, consistently and doing it over a bunch of innings," Fried said, according to Hoch. "He works really hard. He's really open to a lot of information, and obviously his results speak for themselves. He's been really good. He'll definitely impact this team."

While Lagrange is headed to the minors for the start of the 2026 season, it's pretty obvious that a lot of people involved with the Yankees have high hopes for the young pitcher and expect to see him in pinstripes at some point this year.