What rival evaluators are saying about Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr.’s hot start

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WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. — George Lombard Jr. tagged up at third base, raced toward home and slid head first. The throw was in time, and the catcher tagged him on the lower back just before he could slip his left hand over the plate. Lombard got up and argued with the umpire, seemingly trying to plead his case that the catcher had been blocking his path to home plate. He was irritated, a change from his typically cool demeanor. But the inning was over, and soon he accepted the decision and walked back to play shortstop.

The moment appeared to be an example of what a rival executive had said about the top New York Yankees’ prospect not long before.

“He looks bigger, faster (and) stronger, and he’s playing with more of an edge — in a good way,” the executive said.

Other rival evaluators heaped similar praise on the 19-year-old Lombard, the Yankees’ top prospect who has had a hot start at High-A Hudson Valley and could be in the major-league starting infield by next season.

“More confident, stands straighter,” one evaluator said. “Looks like he has a plan for when he goes up there. There’s a presence to him — you already know he was a high pick, but then he shows you (why).”

“He’s not going to be (at High A) for long,” another said.

Easy standup double for top Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr. in the first inning here in Hudson Valley. pic.twitter.com/Zwe4gtTGRh

— Brendan Kuty 🧟‍♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) April 30, 2025

Lombard has hit .306 with a home run, eight RBIs, 11 steals and a .939 OPS through his first 22 games. The performance has come after he turned heads in major-league spring training with impressive exit velocities and poise.

But it would likely be asking too much for Lombard to help in the majors this season, even in September, according to several Yankees officials and outside evaluators polled by The Athletic. That’s despite the Yankees needing a righty-hitting complement to Oswaldo Cabrera at third base. Cabrera is a switch-hitter, but he’s better from the left side.

One Yankees official pointed to his age and relative inexperience (145 minor-league games) and said it would probably be “unfair” to expect him to contribute to a potential World Series contender so soon. The Yankees drafted him 26th in 2023 out of Gulliver Preparatory School in Pinecrest, Fla., giving him a $3.3 million signing bonus. His father, George Lombard Sr., is the Detroit Tigers’ bench coach and played six years in the majors.

The Yankees would need a “Godfather” offer if a team wants to trade for him at the deadline. One rival evaluator said he believes Lombard is the Yankees’ only untouchable prospect. Outfielder Jasson Domínguez and Lombard each appeared mostly off-limits last year, too, the evaluator said.

Lombard, who is bilingual, said he’s felt more comfortable this season at High A than he did after making a cameo there late last season. Part of his increased pop at the plate has come from getting into the gym.

“Definitely put on some weight, that’s for sure,” Lombard told The Athletic early Wednesday morning. “But I think a lot of it comes with the more experience I get offensively. I’m able to control at-bats more, get my swing off more often. When you’re in better counts, obviously, you get better pitches.”

Lombard’s best memories of his first major-league spring training were the times he spent working defensively with Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Andrew Velazquez, and the conversations he had with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Dominic Smith. He said he spoke with Stanton about moving quickly through the minor leagues with the Miami Marlins and “dealing with failure.” He added that Stanton told him he didn’t have his everyday routine in the majors figured out until he was a veteran.

“He’s been there, done that for a long time,” Lombard said of Stanton. “He was a big prospect coming up. Got to the league at a young age and had some really good years. He’s been through all the ups and downs. He’s a guy that you can kind of ask about anything and he’ll have a good answer for you, and he’s a great leader. His mentality is as good as anyone in the game, I would think, and how he goes about his business. You can learn a lot from.”

James Cooper, Hudson Valley’s manager, said it was clear that Lombard spent his childhood around big-league clubhouses from his poise. He added that he’s a “lead-by-example and a vocal” leader.

“When you’re drafted as early as he’s drafted,” Cooper said, “some guys already give you that kind of respect. But he’s a guy who’s gone out and earned it.”

Cooper added that the plan for Lombard was to still give him some reps at third base and second base.

“There are lessons that the baseball player can learn and see how the field rotates from short to second, from second to third and things of that nature,” he said. “We also believe he’s a true shortstop. But we think there are lessons he can learn at third and second that can also make him a better shortstop.”

Lombard posted just a .693 OPS in 81 games at Low-A Tampa last year before getting promoted to High A, but that was likely because he was young and needed time to adjust from playing in the complex league, Cooper said.

“If you look at his lower half, you can tell maybe he did some extra lower body workouts this past offseason,” the manager said. “He’s filling those pants out. He’s finding himself in good counts, and he’s not missing his pitch right now. When you look at how minor-league baseball has changed over the years, where you had that short-season level where guys would go before Low A, they don’t have that anymore. When you’re drafted out of high school, you go to the complex, and then you go straight to Low A. There’s not really a buffer to get you ready. Low A is a little bit tougher now than what it used to be, and I think he’s had a chance to catch up to it. As you can see, he’s doing pretty well in High A.”

(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)

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