TAMPA — With four days left in camp to make him the talk of the town, Carlos Lagrange opened four ho-hum innings Wednesday with a 99.6 mph fastball — that made it seem more familiar than it should have been.
After that, the Yankees senior left little doubt about how confident he felt toward the end of an impressive spring.
Asked if he felt he was ready for the big leagues right now, Lagrange, 22, didn’t wait for the question to be translated into Spanish.
“Yes,” he said with a grin.
“I think getting better at attacking the zone, being able to hit doubles, being able to consistently get two-hit guys out, staying calm on the mound, no matter what the situation is. Doing that gives me a good idea that I’m ready to compete.”
The Yankees have already sent some of their top prospects to minor league camp, but for now, Lagrange remains with the big club.
And while it’s still possible he’ll break camp with the team — in part because he hasn’t thrown a single pitch in Triple-A, the rotation doesn’t mean there’s a spot open for him, and the Yankees want him to continue starting before he becomes a bullpen option — Lagrange left a strong impression.
“I have no doubt that he can help us right now,” said Austin Wells, who caught him on Wednesday. “I don’t know what the plan is and what that will look like, but the way he set up today, he can get us a lot.”
The big question heading into camp for Lagrange is whether he can hit enough to sustain a long-term starting streak. But that has been the most interesting part of his spring, walking just four while striking out 13 in 13 ²/₃ innings with a 0.66 ERA. He has now thrown 11 straight innings over his last three innings, mostly striking out in the zone along the way.
“He showed the ability to run and throw a strike,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously we’ve heard a lot about things, but I was excited about — and you can see it today — the ability to get high scores, get back into the count or finish at-bats. As good as his fastball is, it’s the second things that make you really good. … There’s a lot to enjoy with him.”
Oswaldo Cabrera and his family were in tears Tuesday night as they watched their hometown team in Venezuela win the WBC over Team USA.
The Yankees reliever said he wrote to teammate Gleyber Torres, who played for Venezuela, thanking him for “making 30 million Venezuelans proud and happy in one night.”
“In the world, it means everything,” Cabrera said Wednesday morning. “I was explaining to the couple I play with [Tuesday] At night, the USA has a lot of great things. They are good at everything. They’re good at baseball, they’re good at hockey, they’re good at soccer, they’re good at basketball, they’re good at everything. So that’s probably not the case [as] much like it says in Venezuela.
“We are not very good at many things – talking about the Olympics, talking about the basketball tournament, all these things. “Having this tournament in the Venezuelan game is a big thing for Venezuela. It means a lot to us.”
“In the world, it means everything,” Cabrera said Wednesday morning. “I was explaining to the couple I play with [Tuesday] At night, the USA has a lot of great things. They are good at everything. They’re good at baseball, they’re good at hockey, they’re good at soccer, they’re good at basketball, they’re good at everything. So that’s probably not the case [as] much like it says in Venezuela. We’re not that good at so many things – talking about the Olympics, talking about the basketball tournament, all these things.
“Having this competition in the Venezuelan game is a big thing for Venezuela. It means a lot to us.”
The Yankees cut two more pitchers from major league spring training, reassigning right-handers Harrison Cohen and Carson Coleman to minor league camp.
That leaves 47 players in big league camp.
Veteran pitcher Paul DeJong is not planning to opt out of his minor league contract with the Yankees on Thursday, The Post’s Joel Sherman reports.
While DeJong could take advantage of the opportunity to opt out as an Article XX(B) free agent, his current plan is to try to make the team or start the season in Triple-A, which seems more likely.
