It only took 1 Triple-A game for Yankees' George Lombard Jr. to post a ridiculous highlight

The New York Yankees aggressively promoted top prospect George Lombard Jr. to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and fans are giddy. It took exactly one game for the soon-to-be 21-year-old to knock our socks off.

How did he do it? Was it a moonshot homer like his 105 miles per hour blast off of a rehabbing Zack Wheeler? Was it the kind of defensive wizardry that has led the Yankees to believe he's already MLB-ready with the glove? Nope. It was neither of those things. Instead, Lombard Jr. wowed us in an unexpected way on the basepaths.

On first base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh of a 2-2 tie, Lombard Jr. was off with the crack of the bat as Yanquiel Fernandez hit a dribbling ground ball to where the shortstop would normally be. With the shift on, the ball snuck through the void and into left field.

Lombard Jr. motored to second and then, despite the ball being in front of him, zoomed to third without breaking stride. Taking advantage of the left fielder failing to charge hard, the prized Baby Bomber rounded third and, in a flash, was engaged in a head-first slide to beat the throw at the plate.

Scoring from first with two outs takes guts. Scoring from first on what normally would've been a routine grounder to short takes real speed, and some serious cojones. Lombard Jr. had both on display.

George Lombard Jr. is already showing the Yankees that Triple-A isn't too tall a task for him

The Yankees wanted to see Lombard Jr. dominate Double-A after struggling upon his promotion to Somerset last season. He did just that, slashing .312/.400/.571 with four homers over 20 games this time around.

In many ways, Double-A is the real test. That's the biggest leap in the minors, and it's the level that's stocked with top talent that is already pretty far along on the development curve. Triple-A is where veteran depth and minor league journeymen get stashed.

Still, Lombard Jr. will have to show he can handle himself at the minors' highest level. Base running magic aside, he's done just that. Through his first three games, he's already been on base five times, including three singles and two walks. Some of those singles have shown off his trademark exit velocity. He's also flashed the leather, ranging deep into the hole and making the play with a Jeterian jump throw.

We'll need to see more, but the early returns are exactly what you want. The Yankees typically don't keep top prospects in Triple-A for long unless there's an underlying concern. With that in mind, we could see a very exciting timeline for the youngster.

There's a world in which the Yankees decide to keep Anthony Volpe down for 20 days in order to manipulate his service time and steal an extra year of team control. If that happens, there's also a world in which Lomard Jr. has proven all he needs to in Scranton and leapfrogs Volpe to get the call and take the mantle at shortstop.

Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes. If that doesn't come to fruition, there's also a chance that sooner or later, New York gets fed up with Ryan McMahon and the club takes advantage of Lombard Jr.'s versatility to plug the hole at the hot corner. Again, not likely, but possible, especially as the season moves along.

Outstanding plays and a real air of confidence were great ways for the top prospect in the system to announce his Triple-A arrival. Keeping that up now will be key.

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