Ryan Garcia
When top-100 lists came out with Yankees’ 2023 first-round pick George Lombard Jr. in the 40-60 cluster rather than the 20-30 cluster that some hoped he’d end up in, I wasn’t shocked or upset.
To be quite frank, his 2025 season was not the kind of year that signaled he would become a serious impact player in the Major Leagues, with the hope being that his age and aggressive promotions caused the offensive struggles.
He didn’t have above-average contact rates and he had a SLG% that began with a 3 on the season, you can’t really view it as a high-ceiling offensive profile.
The hitter I’m seeing right now is nothing like that hitter I just described; George Lombard Jr. looks like someone who could move up to Triple-A quickly, and I’m not sure we can consider a 2026 MLB debut far-fetched at this point.
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Why the Yankees Should Be Over-The-Moon About George Lombard Jr.
I looked back to my write-up of George Lombard Jr. who was ranked as the no. 1 prospect in the Yankees system in our pre-season top 30, and my most negative aspects of the report came with his offense.
The hit tool was not strong enough to carry a below-average SLG%, which made me fear that we could be looking at another 80-85 OPS+ hitter who fields the shortstop position well.
It’s a productive profile, but it’s not the kind of outcome that gives you a franchise cornerstone at a position since this is essentially what Anthony Volpe has been for the Yankees.
While I did happen to catch a lot of good George Lombard Jr. games in-person, I also did see the gaping holes in his offensive profile that makes him unrecognizable to the hitter I’m watching right now.
Lombard is attacking the ball at healthier angles for damage contact, which we can measure through his high Line Drive% (34.9%) and Pull% (48.8%), but he’s still being very patient.
This isn’t a hitter who likes expanding the zone and a quirk of his game is that he will let the ball travel deep even in situations where you’d want him to be a bit more aggressive.
Last season he didn’t have the consistently quick twitch that would allow him to quickly rotate his hips and generate a loud flyball, but this year we’re seeing him do that far more consistently.
In a 3-2 count to Zack Wheeler you can see George Lombard Jr. let this sinker travel deep in-zone before unleashing a powerful swing, allowing him to drill a 400+ foot home run.
Watch some film of Carlos Correa from 2017-2019 and you’ll see some of those same offensive traits which prioritize tracking pitches deep and uncorking quickly to punish a mistake pitch left over the heart of the plate.
Lombard added serious weight over the offseason and you can visually see a frame that mirrors the Astros’ star infielder more than your typical shortstop.
I do not believe he will have the same generational-esque production that Correa had before injuries ate up his athleticsm, but he does have the tools to be a 110 OPS+ hitter with excellent defense.
What I was worried about is that any gains in the power department or intent to do more damage would result in worse contact rates, but his Contact% is up by 2% fromn 2025.
I’m excited to see what 2026 looks like for George Lombard Jr. who is already good enough with the glove to start at shortstop for a big-league team, and I think this could be a launching point for his career.
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