TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees have Max Fried. They have Cam Schlittler. Will Warren, Luis Gil and Ryan Weathers are all healthy and available. But when it came time to pick who would throw the first pitch of the 2026 Grapefruit League season, manager Aaron Boone went in a completely different direction.
Two pitching prospects who have never thrown a pitch in the major leagues will start the first two spring training games this weekend. It is a deliberate choice by a franchise that has its eyes on both the present and the future.
A pair of ‘young pups’ built for this moment
The Yankees will open their exhibition schedule Friday in Sarasota against the Orioles with right-hander Elmer Rodriguez on the mound. On Saturday, 6-foot-7 flamethrower Carlos Lagrange gets the ball for the home opener at George M. Steinbrenner Field against the Tigers.
Rodriguez and Lagrange are ranked as the top two pitching prospects in the organization by virtually every scouting outlet. Together, they combined for 344 strikeouts in the minors last season, finishing second and third on the entire MiLB strikeout leaderboard. Rodriguez fanned 176 batters. Lagrange punched out 168.
General manager Brian Cashman has called them “young pups” that will give fans plenty to watch this spring. He also hinted that their runway to the majors may be shorter than people think.
“From my side of the fence, I certainly get a lot of calls on them, and understandably so,” Cashman said. “I have a lot of interest in retaining them. I look forward to seeing how their camp goes this year. You’ll see the talent.”
Why the Yankees skipped their veteran starters
There is a practical reason behind the decision, and it starts with the World Baseball Classic. Several Yankees starters will leave camp around March 1 for WBC duty. Fried, the Opening Day starter, does not need early exhibition innings. Neither does Gil. The established arms will have their turns later in the spring schedule as they build toward the regular season.
But this is also about evaluation. The Yankees will open the 2026 season without Gerrit Cole, who is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and without Carlos Rodon, who is targeting a late April return from elbow surgery. That means there are innings to fill and potential roster spots up for grabs.
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake has told reporters that Rodriguez, Lagrange and fellow prospect Ben Hess are all ahead of where Cam Schlittler was at the same point last year. Schlittler went on to dominate in his rookie debut, including a lights-out postseason start against the Red Sox. That comparison is not lost on the coaching staff.
Cashman has also left the door open for both pitchers to break into the big leagues as relievers if the bullpen needs reinforcement.
“It’s easy to always say you want to keep guys in the starting rotation and stay on their turn and continue their journey,” Cashman said. “At the same time, you’ve got to rob Peter to pay Paul at times, and do that balancing act where you’ve got to service the Major League club.”
Rodriguez brings precision, Lagrange brings pure heat
The two prospects could not be more different in style. Elmer Rodriguez, 22, is a command-first pitcher who relies on deception rather than raw velocity. He works with a sinker that sits around 94 to 96 mph and has touched 99. He throws multiple fastball shapes, a strong changeup and quality breaking balls. His sinker generates called strikes and ground balls rather than swings and misses.
The Yankees swiped Rodriguez from the Red Sox organization in December 2024 in a deal that sent catcher Carlos Narvaez to Boston. At the time, he was ranked No. 30 in the Red Sox system by Baseball America. He rose through the Yankees’ farm last year, finishing at Triple-A Scranton. He was named the Yankees’ Minor League Player of the Year and is already on the 40-man roster.
Lagrange is the opposite. The 22-year-old out of Curacao brings overpowering stuff. He was clocked at 102.6 mph earlier this week in a live batting practice session against reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge. His wipeout sweeper and hard changeup are developing fast. The issue remains command. Lagrange walks more batters than the Yankees would like. But the ceiling is enormous.
Boone compared Lagrange to Dellin Betances, another towering right-hander who dominated with velocity.
“He’s one of the kids over there that you just get really great makeup reports on,” Boone said of Lagrange. “He’s a leader, he takes initiative. He’s got a lot of the tangibles as well as obviously a ton of talent.”
The audition starts now with Statcast watching
For the first time, Statcast data will be available across all spring training ballparks in 2026. That means fans and evaluators will have access to spin rates, velocity readings and batted ball data for every pitch Rodriguez and Lagrange throw this weekend.
Friday’s opener in Sarasota will stream on the Gotham Sports App. Saturday’s home game against Detroit will air on YES Network.
Neither prospect is expected to break camp with the big league club. Rodriguez is likely to start the regular season at Triple-A Scranton before a midseason promotion. Lagrange could follow a similar path, though his bullpen upside makes him a wild card.
But for two days in late February, the Yankees are telling the baseball world something about their organizational priorities. The future of the pitching staff will not just be built through free agency and trades. It will come from within.
“It’s just another step in their development, getting a chance to lock up against and learn from some of these vets, and to face some of the hitters that they get a chance to see on TV,” Cashman said.
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