One area where the Yankees have consistently had success under Sam Briend and Matt Blake is with developing pitchers inside their farm system.
This season has been no different; Will Warren has had bumps in the road but has settled into being a solid starter while Cam Schlittler has been brilliant in his first taste of MLB action.
At the lower levels of the Minor Leagues we’ve seen some more breakouts that could bear fruit in the Bronx, with three pitchers in particular standing out as real impact starters down the road.
Ben Hess, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, and Carlos Lagrange all opened the season together in Hudson Valley, and now they all take turns bullying hitters in the Eastern League with the Somerset Patriots.
With the Yankees hoping to build a stable pipeline of talent from the Minor Leagues to the Bronx, these three arms could be the key to a sustainable contention window.
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Yankees’ First-Round Pick Is Turning His 2025 Season Around
Ben Hess is one of the most fascinating prospects in the Yankees’ organization, as the right-hander missed an entire month of the season due to personal reasons that the organization has chosen not to disclose.
His first two starts after that absence weren’t great, with Hess having a 4.53 ERA and 14.1% walk rate on the season after getting roughed up by the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Since that ugly outing, Hess has pitched to a 1.98 ERA with a 2.15 FIP, earning a promotion to Double-A and looking sharp in his first four starts.
The pitch mix is exciting, headlined by a fastball with an abnormal amount of ride considering his lower release height, which has made this a big swing-and-miss pitch.
Hess has seen his fastball sit in the mid-90s more frequently over the last two months, and it’s made the pitch even more devastating at the top of the zone.
Ben Hess ties a career-high NINE strikeouts in his fourth Double-A start!🚛
Final line: 5.0 IP | 2 H | 0 ER | 2 BB | 9 K on 83 pitches pic.twitter.com/Afcyf3imDe
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 24, 2025
The signature pitch at college was a big looping curveball, and its remained a key part of his repertoire in the Minor Leagues, getting nearly 20 MPH of velocity separation with big movement.
One of his big developments with the Yankees has been finding a nasty changeup with tons of two-plane movement, staying off the barrels of lefties and generating a lot of whiffs.
Finding a reliable slider is still a work-in-progress for Hess, as is his command as the right-hander has walked 11.5% of batters faced this season.
It looked like a lost debut season back in June, but Ben Hess has started to find some serious momentum, and after a nine-strikeout showing, he’s got a 2.70 ERA and 30% K% in four Double-A starts.
Consistency in the zone and an expansion in pitch mix are requirements for him to become a consensus top-100 prospect, but even if he doesn’t make those strides, he has the stuff to be an excellent reliever.
Could the Yankees Salvage Potential Lopsided Trade?
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz was the price the Red Sox had to pay for Carlos Narvaez, a catcher who has quickly become one of the better players at the position.
With a chance to win the AL Gold Glove at the most important defensive position in the sport, it could be a disaster for the Yankees if they don’t get any value out of this trade.
There’s hope for Brian Cashman to walk away from this deal as the savvy executive, as Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz has put together a marvelous season between two levels of Minor League Baseball.
He has the craftiness of a veteran, sporting a six-pitch mix and doing a great job of avoiding damage contact, but he also sports the velocity and movement of a high-octane starter.
His sinekr headlines this arsenal, sitting between 95-96 MPH with good depth and run which allow ERC to generate soft contact on the ground or steal strikes.
Lucky Number 9⃣
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz (@Yankees No. 6 prospect) throws a Double-A high NINE strikeouts!
Final Line: 6.2 IP | 5 H | 3 R | 1 BB | 9 K
Pitches (Strikes): 76 (59) pic.twitter.com/jxSshNwVL9— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 23, 2025
Paired with his wicked sweeper, ERC can attack hitters with two very distinct looks horizontally before going to his wide array of secondary pitches.
A cutter with good depth, a big looping curveball, a sharp splitter, and a four-seamer that’s lagged behind all follow that two-pitch headliner.
The ability to throw all of these pitches for strikes consistently has made Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz incredibly hard to square up for opposing hitters, and it’s why he’s settled in brilliantly in Double-A.
ERC is top 10 in both FIP and xFIP among qualified MiLB starters, but there are some aspects to his game that could use refining.
The strike-throwing abilities have improved, but they could get even better and I’d give his overall command a 50 on the 20-80 scale.
I’d also look at his four-seamer as a pitch that could really struggle in the big leagues, the dead-zone shape isn’t helped enough by his low arm angle.
That being said, his feel for pitching and the pitch mix are strong, and the Yankees’ track record with improving four-seamers (Cam Schlittler, Clarke Schmidt, Luke Weaver, Will Warren) leaves me wondering what Cruz looks like in 2026.
The Yankees’ 100 MPH Monster Has Star Upside
Carlos Lagrange has exploded onto the scene after pitching in just nine games last year with a 6.86 ERA between the Flordia Complex League and Single-A.
The 2025 season has seen him eclipse the 100 IP mark for the first time in his career, as Lagrange has a 3.84 ERA and 33.3% strikeout rate across two levels.
His command issues are still there, walking 12% of batters faced on the season and 15% of batters faced since being promoted to Double-A.
Lagrange possesses a dynamic fastball that can hit 103 MPH on the radar gun, improving the vertical movement of the pitch to make it a better swing-and-miss weapon.
A young pitcher like him would typically just lean on that fastball more than they should, but the feel for his secondary weapons is really exciting.
Carlos Lagrange (@Yankees No. 2 prospect) looked strong with five innings of one-run ball in his 20th start of the season.
After five more strikeouts today, Lagrange leads all Yankees minor leaguers with 147 strikeouts on the season. pic.twitter.com/u5WXxMAukX
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 24, 2025
Carlos Lagrange’s changeup has become arguably the best pitch in his mix, having tons of depth and velocity while developing a strong feel for commanding it.
His sweeping slider and gyro slider possess distinct shapes and velocity ranges which allow him to mix up their usage depending on the handedness of hitter.
It’s possible that his command never gets to a point where he can start, but the odds of him being a starter at the big league level have increased exponentally over the last year.
If he ends up in the bullpen, Lagrange could project to be a star-level closer, if you take his explosive mix and limit it to a 1-2 inning role it could eviscerate lineups with ease.
The upside for Carlos Lagrange is unmatched inside the organization; we could be looking at a future ace for the Yankees.
Injury risk and command struggles create a wide range of outcomes, but the arm talent is rare and he’s pushed himself beyond any expectation scouts had entering the 2025 season.