Getting to know Yankees 2023 first-round pick George Lombard Jr.

The autograph hounds have been busy waiting for the newest member of the High-A Yankees affiliate to sign their baseballs, cards and memorabilia. 2023 first-round draft pick George Lombard Jr. was promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades on Aug. 6, and while he’s struggled out of the gate at the higher level, that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of fans waiting for his autograph.

With storm clouds brewing at a recent home game at Heritage Financial Park, fans yelled out “George!” as he ran in from the left field clubhouse to the home dugout. After warmups, he finally came over for a few minutes before game time in a light rain to give the fans what they wanted.

The 19-year old shortstop was drafted 26th overall last year out of Gulliver Prep in Miami, Florida. He’d committed to Vanderbilt University, but signed with the Yankees for an overslot value of $3.3 million. He was one of the youngest players in his draft class, having only turned 18 early that June.

He’s quickly moved up the Yankees prospect rankings, with Baseball America ranking him the No. 8 prospect in the system ahead of this season, and now No. 3 in their latest midseason update (subscription required), behind only Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones. MLB Pipeline also ranks him third.

He certainly looks the part, standing 6-foot-3 with a powerful right-handed swing. He carries himself like a professional athlete, which might be explained by the fact that his father, George Lombard Sr., was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 1994.

His dad had committed to play football at Georgia, but chose baseball instead. After a 16-year playing career, which included 144 games over parts of six seasons in the big leagues as an outfielder, Lombard Sr. became a coach. He’s currently the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers, a team he played 72 games for back in 2002. He was also the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they won the 2020 World Series.

The scouting report (overall 50-grade) suggests George Jr. has a high baseball IQ, with “a sound right-handed swing and mature approach at the plate, allowing him to control the strike zone and employ the entire field. He already has plus bat speed and strength as a teenager, which translates into plus raw power that could grow as he fills out his projectable 6-foot-3 frame.”

The fact that his paternal great-grandfather, also named George Lombard, was a former Dean of Harvard Business School, and his grandmother Posy Lombard was a key figure in the south for her work in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, certainly helps explain Lombard Jr.’s high IQ.

Since his professional debut last summer with the FCL Yankees, Lombard Jr. has been promoted twice. While the power has yet to develop (only five home runs and 37 RBI with a .692 OPS at Tampa this year), he has stolen 39 bases since his Aug. 18, 2023 professional debut and has shown his versatility in the field, playing shortstop, second and third base.

MLB Pipeline’s scouting report says he “has the actions, hands and arm strength to be a quality shortstop for the long term and also has looked good at second and third base this summer.” Baseball America’s draft report said he was “a solid 55-grade runner with a fringy first step but good speed underway. He has solid actions in the middle infield and should have a chance to stick at shortstop with average arm strength, but as he fills out a 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame perhaps he fits better at third base.”

With an ETA of 2027 to the Yankees, Lombard has time to develop. But it’s an interesting parallel to note that 23-year-old Anthony Volpe played 55 games at High-A Hudson Valley in 2021 as a 20-year old, slashing .286/.391/.587 (for an OPS of .978), with 15 home runs and 37 RBI. Those numbers will certainly be a useful measuring stick in Lombard’s age-20 season next year.

Another 19-year-old, Roderick Arias, is the No. 4-ranked prospect in the Yankees system and is playing both second base and shortstop in Tampa. He was MLB Pipeline's top-rated prospect in the 2022 international free agent class, and turned pro for $4 million out of the Dominican Republic. The switch-hitter has 10 home runs and 62 RBI with the Tarpons this season.

As one can see, the Yankees appear to have some solid prospect depth in the infield behind Volpe, who is under team control for another four seasons beyond 2024. The competition for playing time between Volpe, Lombard and Arias might be a 2027 storyline, unless one or more of them are traded to fill another roster need before then.

Hopefully, what then-Boston Red Sox director of player development Ben Cherington said in 2005 about Lombard Sr. holds true for Lombard Jr., too.

“He's got a perspective on life and how he fits into the world that's a little bit different than the typical player. He's been exposed to a lot of people and ideas that some others haven't. He's a very intelligent guy. That relates to the game he plays. He prepares himself well, is methodical in his preparation, studies the game, and understands what he needs to do to carve out a niche in the big leagues."