TAMPA, Fla. — Aaron Judge crushed two home runs Saturday afternoon. He drove in four runs. He reminded everyone at Steinbrenner Field that the three-time AL MVP is ready for the World Baseball Classic and another championship pursuit in the Bronx.
And somehow, he was not the most talked-about player on his own team.
In the Yankees’ 20-3 Grapefruit League rout of the Detroit Tigers, a group of young players stole the spotlight from their captain. Carlos Lagrange pumped triple-digit fastballs. Spencer Jones hammered a shot that left the ballpark entirely. Roderick Arias cleared the bases with a grand slam. And Jackson Castillo added a three-run homer for good measure.
It was a 6-foot-7 kind of day at Yankees camp, and the kids made it their own.
Lagrange touches 102.4 mph in Grapefruit League debut
Carlos Lagrange got the ball for the Yankees’ exhibition home opener and wasted no time making an impression. The 22-year-old right-hander from Curacao, listed at 6-foot-7 and 248 pounds, worked 2.2 innings against the Tigers and topped out at 102.4 mph on his fastball.
He struck out two batters, walked two and allowed three hits and one earned run. Detroit’s top prospect Kevin McGonigle, the consensus No. 2 prospect in all of baseball, managed to single off a 100.5 mph heater in the first inning. But it was the three-pitch sequence that had Pitching Ninja buzzing on social media that told the real story: a 101.8 mph fastball, an 83.2 mph slider with 20 inches of horizontal break, then a 102.4 mph heater to close the sequence.
Earlier in the week, Lagrange had struck out Judge himself on a 102.6 mph fastball during a live batting practice session. He also surrendered a homer to Judge off a 99.3 mph pitch in the same session. The back-and-forth dynamic had the whole camp watching.
“I’m glad he’s on my team,” Lagrange said of Judge after Saturday’s performance.
Judge returned the compliment with even stronger words.
“Carlos’ potential, man, is to be a frontline starter for the New York Yankees,” Judge said, per The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner.
His fastball has touched 103 mph in games. He pairs it with a wipeout sweeper, a developing changeup and a cutter.
Jones launches the first Yankees homer of the spring
It was a 111.7 mph missile.
Before Judge took his swings, Spencer Jones provided the first Grapefruit League home run of the spring for the Yankees. In the second inning, the 6-foot-7 left-handed slugger turned on a 94.8 mph four-seam fastball from Tigers starter Keider Montero and drove it over the right-field seating area, the ball traveling toward Dale Mabry Highway.
Jones, who hit 35 home runs and stole 29 bases across the minors in 2025, has been under scrutiny this spring because of persistent strikeout issues and a crowded outfield. But the raw power was impossible to miss.
“He’s the captain for a reason,” Jones said of Judge. “He’s looking out for everybody, and he’s definitely helped me, especially so far this camp. It’s just little things here and there. You just ask him questions and he’s always open for a conversation.”
Arias and Castillo blow the game open in the eighth
If Saturday’s early innings belonged to Jones, Judge and Lagrange, the late innings were all about the next wave. The Yankees scored nine runs in the eighth inning, turning a comfortable lead into a blowout.
Roderick Arias cleared the bases with a grand slam and went 2-for-3 on the day. Jackson Castillo followed with a three-run homer in the same frame. Paul Goldschmidt chipped in two hits and two RBIs. The Yankees finished with 18 hits and 11 walks against nine Tigers pitchers.
Detroit’s only significant offensive moment came when Corey Julks hit a solo homer in the third.
Judge sets the tone for WBC and a ‘special year’ in the Bronx
Judge’s two-homer day would have been the headline on any other afternoon. His first blast in the third inning traveled 420 feet to center field at 104.5 mph off the bat against Burch Smith. His second in the fourth went 395 feet at 106.1 mph down the left-field line off Ricky Vanasco. He finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs before being lifted in the fifth.
“We’ve got the WBC coming up, which I’m excited about, and an exciting Yankees season,” Judge said. “We’ve got a lot of unfinished business from last season, especially the way it ended for us.”
Judge will captain Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, joining Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber. Pool play begins March 5. The championship game is March 17 in Miami.
But Saturday at Steinbrenner Field offered something different. It was a glimpse of the pipeline that could carry the Yankees beyond any single season. Lagrange firing 102 mph in his first spring game. Jones driving balls to the highway. Arias clearing the bases with authority. The captain smiled when asked about it.
“He’s going to be special,” Judge said of Lagrange earlier in the week. “You can look up at the radar and see 103 mph, but I think it’s also just the presence he has on the mound.”
On Saturday, the entire roster felt that presence. And the Yankees’ future looked a whole lot brighter for it.
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