Yankees Hopeful George Lombard Jr. Develops Into Next Breakout Infielder
Come on down, George Lombard Jr.
The 19-year-old is the next highly-regarded high school shortstop the Yankees are working to develop into a future big leaguer.
New York used the 26th pick in the 2023 draft to secure Lombard, the son of the former big leaguer of the same name, signing him for $3.3 million out of Gulliver Prep in Pinecrest, Fla.
Lombard drew raves for his defensive play in 2024, which he spent primarily with Low-A Tampa until a late promotion to High-A Hudson Valley. He is the Yankees’ top defensive infielder on the farm, though the 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthanded hitter has work to do at the dish.
Lombard batted .231/.338/.334 with five home runs and 39 stolen bases in 110 games last season, showing a disciplined approach with 61 walks.
He played second and third base in addition to shortstop at Tampa before focusing solely on short at Hudson Valley.
Lombard made a big first impression with his bat in his first big league spring training last year. He hit an opposite-field homer in the Yankees’ Grapefruit League opener. That wasn’t entirely sustainable, though it did provide a valuable learning experience.
“That was awesome,” Lombard said in August. “Being in my first spring training and then getting to go over to the big league side and get to play some games with them and be on the field with some of those guys who are household names, those were some great experiences.
“That first game was pretty memorable with that at-bat.”
Though Lombard will need to produce more contact in 2025, he is a consistent line-drive hitter. The organization will continue to work with him to add more loft to his mostly flat swing to unlock some more power after he hit a high rate of ground balls last year.
