George Lombard Jr. is already making run at Yankees roster spot after just 5 games

If it happens, remember where you heard it first. New York Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. might've lost some steam during spring training, but he's right back where he was when he got off to that scorching start.

After just five games with Double-A Somerset, Lombard Jr. is hitting .476 with a 1.474 OPS. He's hit four doubles and two home runs. He's struck out just twice. Yes, it's early, but this is exactly the type of showing out of the gate he needed to force the issue regarding an expedited promotion to Triple-A.

Last year, Lombard Jr. was particularly bad on the offensive side of the ball at Double-A. He hit just .215 with a .695 OPS and an astounding 124 strikeouts in 108 games. He really needed to dispel fears about his swing and miss in order to try and make some noise in 2026.

While he went on a nice run during spring training, he ended up hitting just .179 with 13 strikeouts in 28 at-bats. But the flashes of potential were there with the power, speed and defense.

If Lombard Jr. can prove the Double-A competition is too easy for him over the next three weeks, we could be looking at a promotion to Triple-A. And then from that point on, he'll be threatening for a spot on the Yankees' active roster, as it all depends on how Jose Caballero and Anthony Volpe perform.

Could George Lombard Jr. make his MLB debut for the Yankees in 2026?

The homer above was cool, but it was against a position player. Nothing to see there, just a stat padder in a sea of impressive offensive numbers.

Lombard's defense is MLB-ready — Brian Cashman even said so — meaning consistency with the bat will be key to his ascension. The quality of Lombard Jr.'s contact is excellent, it's just that ... he needs to make more if it to be effective. He also needs to cut down swinging on balls outside of the zone. But that's all part of the learning curve, and Lombard Jr. is only 20 years old.

Before you know it, he'll be teammates with Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones in Scranton and we'll be looking at the next wave of Yankees young talent or a combination of that plus trade assets for this year's deadline.

The good news for Lombard is that he plays a position of need for New York (shortstop, third base) whereas Dominguez and Jones are a bit more expendable due to the current outfield situation. His advanced defense will help his case, too. He won't necessarily have to light the world on fire with his offense — he'll just need to maintain consistency and show progression in those areas of weakness.

But the louder his performances get, so will the calls for him to get promoted to Triple-A. By that point, he'll be knocking on the door of the big league roster, which feels wide open right now. Randal Grichuk isn't proving to be an asset. Caballero isn't doing himself any favors right now. McMahon is drawing the ire of the fans with his hitting woes. At the very least, Lombard Jr. could be a candidate when rosters expand in September.

By that point, Volpe, Caballero and McMahon better hope they're producing, because Aaron Boone has shown a penchant in the early going to make lineup changes, which has been a bit uncharacteristic of the relatively conservative manager.