The Yankees have lots of young pitching on the rise in their minor league system, and two names that could have a significant impact on their pitching staff during the 2026 season are Elmer Rodriguez, the Yankees’ No. 3-ranked prospect, and Carlos Langrage, their No. 2-ranked prospect.
Rodriguez, who’s just 22 years old, is a right-handed pitcher that the Yankees acquired from the Boston Red Sox for catcher Carlos Narvaez in December of 2024. Rodriguez has a lean frame, standing at just 6’3 “and 160 lbs, but has seen an increase in his fastball velocity, touching 98 mph in 2025.
Yankees Possibly Caught Lightning In A Bottle With Rodriguez
His fastball hovered around 91-95 mph during the 2023 season in the Red Sox farm system before being traded to the Yankees, where he now sits between 93-96 mph, according to Minor League Baseball’s website. Therefore, the Yankees have unlocked some potential in Rodriguez, who posted a 2.58 ERA across three levels in High A, Double A, and Triple A in 2025. Rodriguez got a cup of coffee in Triple A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, appearing in just one game where he pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs.
Still, the rapid development we’ve seen between his successes in High A Hudson Valley, where he posted a 2.26 ERA, and Double A Somerset, where he posted a 2.64 ERA this year, is noticeable.
Greg Joyce NY Post
In 2025, Rodriguez went 11-8 with a 2.58 ERA, logging 150 innings, 176 strikeouts, and holding opposing hitters to a .192 batting average. He showed improvement from a strong campaign in 2024 as well, where he posted a 2.91 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 89.2 innings between low A and high A.
Rodriguez, on top of his fastball, throws a mid-80s slider that evaluators say has only gotten better in 2025, as well as a high-70s curveball, an 80s splitter, and an 80s change-up. His estimated Major League ETA is listed on Minor League Baseball’s website as 2027, but that is just an estimate. With continued growth and development, we could see Rodriguez promoted to the Yankees’ big league roster in 2026.
The High Potential With Carlos Lagrange
Now with Lagrange, he’s viewed to have even more potential upside than Rodriguez. He’s also 22 years old but stands at an imposing 6’7 248 lbs, and he throws a blazing fastball that sits between 97-99 mph and has topped out at 102 mph. He also throws a mid-80s sweeping slider and an upper-80s cutter and change-up.
Lagrange posted a 3.53 ERA with 168 strikeouts in 120 innings pitched, holding opponents to a .191 batting average against him. While his ERA is a bit more inflated than Rodriguez’s, and Lagrange also has more issues with command in terms of walk rate and some injury history that includes missed time in 2023 with a back injury, his command has shown improvement in 2025 compared to prior seasons.
Via MLB.com
He’s more raw than Rodriguez, but the upside is even greater with his pure stuff in the pitching arsenal that includes the elite fastball, cutter, change-up, and sweeping slider. Because of this, Lagrange, as well as Rodriguez, given their young age and rapid development in the Yankees’ system, could be significant contributors to either the Yankees’ starting rotation or bullpen, if not both, because of their pure raw stuff.
The Yankees’ starting rotation will be missing both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon to begin the 2026 season. As for the bullpen, the Yankees will have to navigate losing notable names such as Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr, and several others during the 2025-26 offseason.
The Yankees picked up hard-throwing right-hander Cade Winquest via the Rule 5 Draft from the St Louis Cardinals last month at the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando. However, Winquest has also never appeared in the Major Leagues either, and it’s clear the Yankees need more out of their starting rotation and bullpen in 2026 if they want to be serious competitors in a rapidly improving AL East.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post These Top Yankees Pitching Prospects Could Play A Big Factor In 2026 appeared first on Heavy Sports.