Alexander Wilson
The New York Yankees have one of the most exciting infield prospects in baseball, and the rest of the sport is starting to catch up to what the organization has known for a while. Baseball America just updated their top 100 prospect rankings and Lombard now sits at 15th overall, climbing 30 spots from his previous position. That kind of jump doesn’t happen without elite production backed by elite tools, and Lombard has been providing both at every level he’s touched this season.
The 20-year-old shortstop is one of the most complete infield prospects in the minor leagues right now, and the path to the major leagues is getting shorter by the week.
What He’s Done to Earn This
Lombard opened the season in Double-A with Somerset and hit .312/.400/.571 across 20 games, posting four homers, 10 RBIs, a 21.1% strikeout rate, a 13.3% walk rate, and a 151 wRC+. For context, a 151 wRC+ means he was 51% better than the average Double-A hitter. The Yankees promoted him to Triple-A Scranton after those 20 games rather than waiting until the midseason reviews, because there was nothing left for him to prove at that level.
Seven games into Triple-A, the surface numbers look modest at .217/.438/.217, but the 25% walk rate is the only meaningful number in a sample this small. His plate discipline is intact. The power will show up. It always follows the walks and the contact quality in a hitter with his tools, and at 20 years old, patience is the only reasonable approach to a seven-game adjustment period at a new level.
What doesn’t need a large sample is his defense. Scouts who have watched Lombard describe him as a Gold Glove-caliber defender at multiple infield positions on day one at the major league level. The range at shortstop, the arm strength, the footwork, and the instincts are all already there. He’s not a project. He’s a finished defensive product who just needs his bat to finish growing.
The Roster Reality
Here’s where things get interesting for 2026. Aaron Boone said earlier this week that the plan in Triple-A is to move Lombard around the infield, giving him work at third base, second base, and shortstop in addition to his natural position. Anthony Volpe is the starting shortstop when healthy. Ryan McMahon has the hot corner. Jazz Chisholm is at second base.
McMahon has started finding his footing over the past two weeks after a brutal April, which actually makes the Lombard timeline less urgent for this season. If McMahon stabilizes offensively and holds the defensive standard the Yankees paid for, there’s no reason to force Lombard into the big leagues before he’s fully ready. The development path works better if he gets a full season in Triple-A, and the Yankees have the luxury of that patience given how the rest of the infield is currently performing.
But 2027 is a completely different conversation. Jazz Chisholm hits free agency after this season, and whether the Yankees commit $30-plus million annually to re-sign him or let him walk, second base opens up. Anthony Volpe’s status beyond 2026 is tied to how well his shoulder holds up and whether his offense progresses meaningfully, and if either of those questions doesn’t resolve favorably, shortstop could be available too. Ryan McMahon has one year left after 2026, and if Lombard spends this whole season in Triple-A performing at the level he has shown, the Yankees will have a ready-made replacement rather than a question mark.
Why This Is Such a Good Problem to Have
The Yankees’ position player development pipeline hasn’t produced an infield talent of this caliber in a very long time. Ben Rice came out of nowhere as a 12th-round pick and became one of the best hitters in baseball. Lombard was a first-round investment who is now returning exactly what that investment was supposed to produce. Having both of them locked up long-term, with a rotation that is about to be fully healthy and an offense that is already elite, puts the Yankees in a position that most organizations spend decades trying to build.
Lombard at 15th in the Baseball America top 100, climbing 30 spots in one spring, is the kind of validation that reinforces everything the organization believes about how they’ve built this thing. The future is in good hands. The present is already pretty good too.
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