Carlos Lagrange 'excellent' in first live BP session
The first full-squad workout of camp began with rising prospect Carlos Lagrange on the mound for live batting practice, and he turned some heads with fans in attendance.
Facing the heart of the Yankees' lineup, Lagrange showcased his triple-digit velocity, inducing strikeouts of Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger across a 49-pitch session.
While the appearance wasn't flawless for the right-hander -- he served up a monstrous home run to Judge on a fastball down the middle -- he ultimately got revenge by fanning the Yankees' captain on three pitches. The third-strike fastball reached 102 mph.
Lagrange also forced Giancarlo Stanton to ground out and pop out in at-bats before walking off the field with a changing-speeds punchout of Bellinger. The performance was met with cheers.
"I thought he was excellent. First one to go out there on first full-squad day," Boone said. "The crowd's full, he's facing the big boys. What I liked is, he was filling up the zone with it too. The stuff obviously jumps off the page at you. Thought he held his stuff, most importantly held his strike throwing. February, but really good to see him out there."
Lagrange, the No. 79 prospect on MLB Pipeline's latest Top 100 rankings, logged a 3.22 ERA with 104 punchouts over 78.1 innings in Double-A Somerset last season. Boone has compared the 22-year-old to former Yankees reliever Dellin Betances, based on his 6-foot-7 frame and blistering fastball.
The next step for Lagrange is to develop the "next layer" of strike throwing, according to Boone, but his overall makeup and leadership traits have grabbed the coaching staff's attention. Lagrange's composure against Judge and other Yankees sluggers was lauded, too.
"That's a big thing to walk in to, for a guy who hasn't been over here," Boone said. "It didn't seem like a big thing to him. He was just out there executing... After the homer, he really came back and executed. The chanegup is special. I thought the sweeper was a good pitch for him, got a lot of outs with it. Fun to watch all that unfold."
The Yankees will begin Grapefruit League action on Friday against the Orioles, and Boone said Lagrange has a very strong chance of starting the game in Sarasota.
Positive updates on Cam Schlittler, Anthony Volpe
Anthony Volpe took the next step forward in his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, starting a hitting program on Monday that included some dry swings, per Boone.
With the expectation of Volpe missing at least all of April while rehabbing, utilityman Jose Caballero should see ample playing time at shortstop and create some in-season competition.
Meanwhile, Cam Schlittler is scheduled to throw off the mound on Tuesday, less than a week after revealing a minor back issue.
The right-hander was never shut down completely -- he threw on flat ground over the weekend and neither Schlittler nor Boone expressed actual concern about the mild injury.
"He was built up pretty good and we didn't shut him down at all," Boone said. "I don't think we thought it was a big issue, but more of one we wanted to get out in front of, just in case."
Carlos Lagrange strikes out Aaron Judge with a 102.6 MPH fastball 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/9XStI8hdu3
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) February 16, 2026