Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. showing maturity at Triple-A

A long-time American League scout assigned to the Yankees’ minor-league system for well over a decade who at times has been harsh in his evaluations of some of the club’s more hyped prospects couldn’t wait to tell a story about George Lombard Jr.

Lombard, 21, a shortstop rated as the organization’s No. 1 prospect who is a step away from the majors after a late-April promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, went 1-for-5 on the night of May 26 in a 6-3 loss to Worcester, the Red Sox affiliate.

The rough outing dropped Lombard’s batting average to .198 and his OPS to .593 since his promotion.

“The next day is the morning game, ‘the kiddie game,” as we call it,” the scout said of the 11 a.m. start time. “Normally those games, I can tell you, they’re not pretty.”

On the mound for Worcester was lefthander Jake Bennett, one of Boston’s top pitching prospects, who made his major-league debut on May 1 against the Astros and allowed one earned run in five innings in a 3-1 victory.

“First pitch to Lombard leading off [in the bottom of the first] comes in 93 [mph] and down and Lombard hits it to the scoreboard,” the scout said of a 363-foot blast to left-center that gave Lombard his first Triple-A homer. “The kid after a [expletive] game rolls out of bed and is ready to go. That’s a professional. He has a maturity beyond his years. Always been like that.”

Lombard, the Yankees’ first-round pick in 2023 (taken 26th overall), did not catch fire after the homer off Bennett but — as he has done in each of his previous stops in the Yankees’ system after a promotion and difficulties with the bat — seems to be figuring things out.

After going deep in both games of a Friday “doubleheader” (the first game was a completed game from a suspended game from the night before), Lombard had four homers with Scranton. He upped his batting average to .221 and OPS to .728.

All of which begs the question, especially with Anthony Volpe’s inability to get things going consistently: When will Lombard, who has been seeing time at shortstop, third and second, get his opportunity in the majors?

Last season, general manager Brian Cashman, typically reluctant to add to the hype machine of his top prospects (his underlings are more than happy to handle that), repeatedly said — even as Lombard failed to launch offensively at Double-A Somerset — that he was major league-ready on defense.

Rival scouts agreed then and still do.

“He’s what they look like,” said one National League scout assigned to the Yankees’ system, the “they” meaning a major-league player. “He was hitting like .120 when I saw him but he wasn’t overwhelmed in his at-bats. [In the field], he’s so athletic and did some things on the dirt I thought were special. Just reading hops, his instinct.”

Added the AL scout: “He makes off-balance plays look routine; he throws beautifully on the run. Even when he’s off-balance, he’s in total control of his body, which is really cool to see.”

Lombard’s arm?

“He does that Jeter jump as good as Jeter,’’ the scout said, “and I don’t say that lightly.”

The 6-2, 190-pound Lombard, whom multiple scouts have called “a young Carlos Correa,” spent spring training in the Yankees’ big-league camp the last two years. He impressed coaches and veteran players with everything from his on-field work to the way he carried himself in the clubhouse.

The latter is not a surprise. Lombard grew up around major-league clubhouses. His father, George, played six seasons in the majors and is the Detroit Tigers’ bench coach.

Aaron Boone has said he’s been most taken with Lombard “the person.” Aaron Judge, in addition to referencing Lombard’s comportment, said he has “all the tools” to succeed at the game’s highest level.

“He’s a guy that’s going to play elite defense at third, shortstop, wherever, and then at the plate, man, uses the whole field,” Judge said after Lombard’s promotion to Triple-A. “Great contact hitter, but he’s got some juice behind it . . . I couldn’t imagine being his age, in spring training with the New York Yankees. The composure he has, he’s built for New York.”

A second AL scout put it bluntly.

“He’s going to play up here this year,” he said.

At this point, it does seem to be just a matter of when.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

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.