There is a specific sound a baseball makes when it hits a catcher’s mitt at 102 miles per hour.
It’s not a “pop”; it’s a gunshot.
And today, George M. Steinbrenner Field sounded like a firing range.
In the Yankees’ dominant 20-3 spring thrashing of the Detroit Tigers, the box score will show home run moonshots from Aaron Judge and Spencer Jones. But the real story in New York was the man on the mound: Carlos Lagrange.
At 6-foot-7 and 248 pounds, Lagrange doesn’t just pitch; he demoralizes opposing batters. And after today’s Grapefruit League debut, the Randy Johnson comparisons are no longer just prospect hyperbole. They are becoming reality.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic for $10,000 in February 2022, Lagrange has Yankees fans feeling like they’ve hit the lottery.
The Sequence That Broke the Internet
If you weren’t watching, Pitching Ninja (Rob Friedman) was. The clip circulating on Yankees Twitter features Lagrange’s second-inning masterpiece. It was a three-pitch sequence that should be illegal in all 50 states:
- The Setup: A 101.8 MPH sinker that started at the hitter’s hip and snapped back over the black.
- The “Filth”: An 83.2 MPH slider with a staggering 20 inches of horizontal break. The Tigers’ batter swung at a ball that ended up closer to the dugout than the plate.
- The Execution: A 102.4 MPH four-seamer at the letters. Over and out.
Carlos Lagrange is Disgusting. 🤮
3 Pitch Sequence:
101.8 mph ⛽️
83.2 mph Slider (with 20 inches Horizontal Break)
102.4 mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/np5X73715m— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 21, 2026
“He’s going to be special,” Aaron Judge said earlier this week after Lagrange blew a 102.6 MPH heater past him in live BP. “It’s not just the speed; it’s the presence. He doesn’t care who is in the box.”
The “Big Unit” Blueprint
The Randy Johnson parallels are eerie. Like a young Johnson, Lagrange is a physical outlier who hasn’t quite mastered his own “downhill” mechanics. Johnson didn’t harness his command until his mid 20s and Lagrange is still at the beginning of that journey but all the signs are there.
Lagrange struck out 12.6 batters per nine innings of work in the minor leagues last season while allowing a home run per fly ball rate of just 6.1% in Double-A. While he posted a 3.53 ERA across 120 innings, his 3.14 FIP and .288 BABIP suggest that he actually had some bad luck on the mound, which could push his earned run average even lower.
- The Power: Lagrange finished 2025 with 168 strikeouts in 120 innings.
- The Problem: He also walked over 5 batters per nine innings.
- The Performance: Today was a microcosm of the “Lagrange Experience.” He gave up a solo shot and walked two, but he looked utterly unhittable when he found the zone. He worked 2.2 innings, leaving the mound to a standing ovation from a crowd that knows they just saw the future.
“I think the biggest improvement is commanding the strike zone better,” Lagrange said earlier in camp through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “I had a full offseason to fix mistakes. That’s what I worked on.”
Starter or Secret Weapon?
The debate in the Bronx is already shifting.
Should New York find a way to work him into the starting rotation or let the rookie become a lights out closer for a team that has a legitimate chance to contend for a World Series in 2026?
While the Yankees are developing him as a frontline starter, many scouts see a “Dellin Betances on steroids” relief profile.
Imagine Lagrange coming out of the bullpen in the 8th inning of a playoff game, throwing 103 MPH with two feet of slider break. It’s the stuff of nightmares for the rest of the AL East, especially in October, when missing bats comes at a premium.
With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon battling back from injury, the Yankees have been rumored to be interested in adding another starter to the rotation. But Lagrange’s electric stuff might convince them that the pitcher they are searching for is already on in the Bronx.
Final Thoughts
The Yankees have a surplus of arms, but they don’t have anyone like this. Carlos Lagrange is raw, he is loud, and he is the most electric pitching prospect to wear pinstripes since the turn of the century.
The Big Unit has a spiritual successor. And if today was any indication, he won’t be in the minors for long.
