Yankees’ 2023 first-round pick gets promoted to High-A

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George Lombard Jr. was the New York Yankees‘ first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, and while he hasn’t been dominant in his first season as a professional, he’s shown flashes and has earned a promotion to High-A. The Hudson Valley Renegades will get a wave of players from Single-A this week, but Lombard headlines this class as he’s considered one of the best prospects in the organization. His upside is enormous thanks to his ability to impart damage on contact alongside an advanced approach at the plate that allows him to work walks while attacking aggressively in-zone.

Contact has been a struggle for him, but he’s progressively improved as the season has gone on, and the Yankees are rewarding a strong profile with a promotion despite unremarkable results.

Yankees Promote George Lombarfd Jr. to High-A Hudson Valley

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A 105 wRC+ isn’t going to blow anyone away, especially in Single-A where competition isn’t nearly refined enough to even compete at the Major League level. That being said, he’s done an excellent job of doing damage on contact, ranking in the 66th Percentile among Single-A hitters in the 90th Percentile Exit Velocity and in the 76th Percentile in Damage Rate (both via Robert Orr of Baseball Prospectus).

The swing decisions are encouraging as well, ranking in the 73rd Percentile in SEAGER, which is a swing decision metric that takes into account your in-zone and out-of-zone aggression. His struggles come with a poor Zone Contact%, which does make you wonder how his strikeout rate will look as he climbs a level into High-A, but he’s just 19 years old and he’s been better as of late.

What the Yankees value in George Lombard Jr. is his massive potential as a potential power threat in the middle infield with the speed and plate discipline to become a stud. The ascent didn’t occur in Single-A this season, but perhaps a strong finish to his 2024 campaign at a level like High-A could boost his stock a ton. The Yankees view Lombard favorably for plenty of reasons, and we’ll see if it results in him becoming a top-100 prospect and more importantly, a quality big leaguer.

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