TAMPA — Carlos Lagrange stepped onto the mound at Steinbrenner Field on Monday afternoon, looked toward the batter’s box and thought, “Damn, it’s Aaron Judge.”
A few pitches into the live batting practice, Judge crushed a 99.3 mph fastball into the seats for a home run.
But Lagrange, one of the top Yankees pitching prospects, showed his mettle and high-end stuff throughout the rest of the session, coming back to fan Judge on a 102.6 mph heater, a showdown that had the sizable crowd buzzing on the first day of full-squad workouts.
“He’s going to be special,” Judge said. “You can look up at the radar and see 103 mph — the fastball he threw by me — but I think it’s also just a presence he has on the mound. He’s a kid that, we sent up a nasty lineup against him today and he didn’t care. He wanted to be out there and he came right after us. That’s what you need.”
Across three simulated innings, in his first big league camp, Lagrange got a stiff test by facing Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham.
But the 22-year-old did not back down from the challenge, showing off a fastball that often hits triple digits to go with what manager Aaron Boone called a “special” changeup and sharp sweeper.
“When I see those guys, I feel really good because I’m here [in big league camp] with them,” Lagrange said. “But I try to do the same thing: throw in my zone and go through my pitches.
“I know 102 is really hard, but I work out hard in the offseason. When you do a really good job in the offseason, that’s the result.”
Lagrange, whose biggest hurdles in the minor leagues have been throwing enough strikes and staying healthy, finished last year at Double-A Somerset, where he made 15 starts and posted a 3.22 ERA.
He is already far along in his buildup for this season, throwing 49 pitches in Monday’s session.
While Lagrange is expected to get every chance to remain a starter, the Yankees could fast-track him to The Bronx in a relief role, with his stuff likely playing up in the bullpen.
For now, though, they continue to be impressed by how he is handling himself and his stuff in the early days of camp.
“I thought he was excellent,” Boone said. “First one to go out there, first full-squad day, the crowd’s full, he’s facing the big boys. What I liked is he was filling up the zone with it. The stuff obviously jumps off the page at you, but at a point where he’s going three ups, 49 pitches, he held his stuff and most importantly held his strike-throwing.
“Again, it’s February, but really good to see him out there.”