2023 Yankees first-round pick George Lombard Jr. entered the season with questions about his offense. Scouts, fans, and media all agreed that his defense was—and is—MLB-ready, but there were still doubts about his ability to hit big-league or high-minors pitching right out of the gate.
It’s safe to say that Lombard has done his best to put those concerns to rest. Even though they still exist to some extent, which is natural for a 21-year-old with no college baseball experience, Lombard is showing that his promotion to the majors is a matter of time. It’s safe to say that the shortstop prospect and top name in the Yankees’ system has gotten so much better at the sweet science of hitting, and he is now knock, knock, knocking on the door of Yankee Stadium.
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The highly athletic Lombard is now on a 15-game hitting streak (interrupted by an injured list stint) in which he entered play yesterday slashing an incredible .400/.475/.860 with five dingers, a 1.335 OPS, a 222 wRC+, and 14 runs scored. In fact, he did this on his first game back from the shelf last week:
Lombard began Wednesday batting .249/.389/.414 with five long balls, eight stolen bases, and a 116 wRC+ in 45 games and 211 plate appearances on the season in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. This comes after slashing a robust .312/.400/.571 with a 157 wRC+ in 20 games and 90 trips to the plate in Double-A Somerset to open 2026.
Lombard’s incredible ability to make adjustments is evident if you zoom in to his game log with the RailRiders. After a brief adjustment period from the moment he was promoted to Triple-A on April 29th until May 16th, he slashed a putrid .127/.351/.127 with a .479 OPS and a 58 wRC+. Yes, he drew some walks, but wasn’t a good hitter and took a little while to get going.
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From that point forward, however, Lombard has hit a jaw-dropping .316/.427/.607 with 13 doubles, seven round-trippers, a 1.033 OPS and a 161 wRC+ in 143 plate appearances. It’s not a huge sample, but it’s significantly more than nothing and enough to get people’s attention.
It will be interesting to see how Lombard impacts the Yankees’ Trade Deadline. New York could theoretically call him up at any point when they deem he’s ready, but it seems most likely that if it happens, it will be once August 3rd has come and gone and they know what their depth chart looks like at the six in the home stretch. If, say, Anthony Volpe ends up on the move, then it would be logical to see Lombard come up and bump José Caballero to his more natural utility role. Unlike other occasions in which fans have clamored for his name as an MLB option, this time he does seem ready for the challenge.
It is, of course, also possible that Lombard is the key man in a big swing, as much as it seems more probable that they’ll keep him. If the Yankees do indeed hold onto him and give the kid a chance to contribute in the next few weeks, he could give the team a significant boost. His excellent defense would go a long way toward fortifying the left side of the infield, and we know it can be a liability sometimes. His bat, however, will dictate his ceiling and how much he can help this season.
Lombard hasn’t shown any marked platoon issues in the 67 games he has played in the high minors this year. He boasts a 1.123 OPS against lefties, and a .813 mark while facing righties: he is much better vs. southpaws but can more than hold his own vs. right-handed hurlers. It is worth noting that he has needed a little bit of an adjustment at each level, so it might take a bit for everything to click (if indeed it does; remember that Volpe was the can’t-miss name not so long ago, as was the since-departed Oswald Peraza before him).
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The Yankees can afford to keep Lombard a few more weeks in Scranton while they work out their strategy, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that he doesn’t really have much left to prove there. The promising prospect, once a slick-fielding, light-hitting infielder with limited potential, is blossoming into a future star with the glove and with the bat.
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