Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr. continues to impress
Yankees infielder George Lombard Jr. at 2026 spring training photo day. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
BRANDENTON, Fla. — Few players in Yankees camp caused more buzz than George Lombard Jr. a year ago.
The shortstop — then as now considered by most to be the franchise’s top prospect — spent three weeks of big-league camp at the age of 19 impressing those inside and outside of the organization with his on-field performance, work ethic and clubhouse comportment before being sent to minor league camp for the rest of spring training.
Lombard, who is back in major league camp for a second straight year, tore it up with High-A Hudson Valley early in 2025, hitting .329 with a .983 OPS in 24 games before earning a promotion to Double-A Somerset.
And it was there, at least according to the numbers, that the righthanded-hitting Lombard stalled a bit. The Yankees’ first-round pick in 2023 hit .215 with eight homers and a .695 OPS (his on-base percentage was a respectable .337) in 108 games with Somerset.
But when it comes to Lombard’s development, the Yankees say not to read too much into those statistics. And multiple opposing team talent evaluators assigned to the club’s minor league system agree.
“The bottom line is players have to learn how to make adjustments,” Yankees vice president of baseball operations Tim Naehring said Monday before the Yankees’ 6-2 victory over the Pirates. “If you struggle at a certain level, it’s part of the development of the individual . . . because when you get to the big leagues, you’re going to struggle at times. It’s a game of failure.
“So I don’t mind when I see somebody struggle when they go to the next level . . . How does the player handle struggling? [Lombard] doesn’t take it to the defensive side. He’s shown the capability to do that.”
One National League scout — who over the years generally has leaned more toward the skeptical side when it comes to hyped Yankees prospects — put it more bluntly.
“I don’t give a [expletive] about his offensive numbers,” the scout said. “What I liked was what I saw before the games. How he went about his business, interacted with his teammates. You saw some of the leadership stuff I’m sure they [the Yankees] talk about. He looked the part [of a big-leaguer] in every way but at the plate, and even that wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
“So many guys struggle after that jump [High-A to Double-A]. And when you watched him on defense, you wouldn’t know he was struggling. His maturity is super-advanced.”
An American League scout last season called Lombard a “young Carlos Correa.” Correa, the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year, was a cornerstone of the 2017 World Series-winning Astros and is a three-time All-Star.
The scout didn’t make the comparison from the offensive end — Correa at Lombard’s age was projected as a bit more of a power hitter — but more so from the players’ physical similarities. Correa is slightly bigger at 6-3 and 220 pounds; Lombard is 6-2, 208.
Correa, who also came up as a shortstop, moved with ease at the position, showing instinctive traits that stood out to evaluators. That’s the case with Lombard, too.
“I think he’s got a great nose for the game, no matter if he’s playing shortstop or an occasional different position,” said Naehring, who played third, short and second during his eight-year career in the majors from 1990-97.
“One of those players that always seems to be in the right spot at the right time . . . It’s things that people described as Jeter-like. ‘Why is Jeter in this play, the most crucial part, and all of a sudden he’s doing the flip [the flip play from Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS vs. Oakland]?’ Just a great nose for the way the game is to be played. Lombard has a lot of those qualities.”
A second AL scout, who last season said he was “confident” that Lombard would make the “big leagues by the end of next year [2026],” did not run away from that.
“I still believe that,” he said recently. “Obviously, the offense hasn’t come as quick as I thought it, but his at-bats there [Double-A] were competitive. The numbers might say he was overwhelmed in the box. He wasn’t.”
Lombard, the son of former major-leaguer George Lombard, is aware of the spotlight in which his development is taking place but appears unfazed by it.
“There’s definitely that attention that comes with it, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” he said after Monday’s game, in which he came in at short in the middle innings and went 0-for-1 with a walk.
“I feel like I’m blessed to be in that situation where I have those expectations and have goals to meet. But I really just try to block that out. Acknowledge the position I’m in and then just focus on my work. Do my work and let those things figure themselves out.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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