{"id":419261,"date":"2026-01-17T14:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T14:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/419261\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T14:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T14:32:09","slug":"george-lombard-jr-yankees-top-prospect-talks-anthony-volpe-his-mlb-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/419261\/","title":{"rendered":"George Lombard Jr.: Yankees top prospect talks Anthony Volpe, his MLB future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yankees<\/a> prospect George Lombard Jr<\/a>., a five-tool shortstop who was promoted to the Double-A Somerset Patriots last season before his 20th birthday, is quickly entering the big-league picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing this job for as long as I have, usually players that possess some severe, high-ceiling talent, which George Lombard has, once it comes together, altogether, it can come really fast,\u201d Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said during last November\u2019s GM meetings. \u201cDefensively, he\u2019s ready to go. Offensively, it looks like he needs more time \u2026 so I wouldn\u2019t think \u201826 is on the horizon, but I wouldn\u2019t rule at some point out in \u201826.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Lombard hit just .215 in 108 games with Somerset, he batted .268 over his final 15 games. Counting his 24 games at High-A Hudson Valley, he finished with respectable numbers for a youngster playing one or two levels above many of his peers \u2014 a .235 average with nine homers, 49 RBI, 35 steals, 87 walks and 146 strikeouts in 580 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

He also had a .984 fielding percentage, which was much better than Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe\u2019s .970 in 2023, .972 in 2024 and .963 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Tall and slender, the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has a build that resembles a young Alex Rodriguez. Also, both were Miami area prep stars.<\/p>\n

The oldest son of Detroit Tigers bench coach and former big-league outfielder George Lombard Sr., Lombard Jr.\u2019s elite skillset, work habits and make-up remind baseball people of Aaron Judge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a part of the Lombard fan club,\u201d an American League scout told NJ Advance Media last week.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more from the scout, who was granted anonymity because he\u2019s not permitted to publicly talk about opposing players:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that kid\u2019s going to be special. I really do,\u201d he said. \u201dThere\u2019s an aura about Lombard on the field. He moves differently from everybody else. As soon as you see him, you know he\u2019s got that \u2018it factor.\u2019 I don\u2019t know what it is, but he\u2019s got it. His instincts are off the charts. He\u2019s a smart baserunner, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow he got his ass handed to him a little bit in Double A hitting-wise, but that was expected. He\u2019s 20. He\u2019s going to hit. And, oh God, he\u2019s good defensively! He plays circles around Volpe. I think Lombard is going to be their future shortstop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yankees drafted Lombard 26th overall in 2023. He\u2019s already their No. 1 prospect and is ranked 22nd in Baseball America\u2019s top 100 and No. 25 in MLB Pipeline\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Just back from a family vacation, Lombard talked with NJ Advance Media the other day about his baseball career, his future, Anthony Volpe, his hobbies and plenty more:<\/p>\n

Did you go somewhere fun for your winter vacation?<\/p>\n

Lombard: We went to the Bahamas.<\/p>\n

Are you a beach guy?<\/p>\n

Lombard: Yeah, I love being in the water. Anything in the water. I love to fish. We\u2019ve never had a boat, but I\u2019ve always had a lot of friends that do, so I was able to go out all the time. I\u2019ve done a lot of spear-fishing. I\u2019ve caught some really big sharks. I caught a 500-pound bull shark.<\/p>\n

What was it like reeling that in?<\/p>\n

Lombard: It was exhausting. It took 2 1\/2 hours to get it in, then we let it go. That was not fun. It\u2019s more fun when I catch fish, then take it home and cook it for everybody.<\/p>\n

You cook?<\/p>\n

Lombard: I learned during Covid when I was stuck at the house. I started watching YouTube videos and taught myself, basically. A lot of it was just experimentation … trying this, trying that.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a typical offseason day for you?<\/p>\n

Lombard: At first, it\u2019s more building my body up for the seven-month season, then I start incorporating all the baseball stuff. That\u2019s where I\u2019m at now getting ready for the spring. I\u2019ll be in Tampa soon.<\/p>\n

Baseball-wise, what specifically are you working on?<\/p>\n

Lombard: My biggest focus is continuing to learn my swing and tendencies. What is going to help me when I\u2019m struggling? I\u2019m working to dial in to extend those streaks of consistency.<\/p>\n

What are your biggest takeaways from last season? You were really challenged playing Double-A ball so young.<\/p>\n

Lombard: For sure, it definitely was a challenge when I first got to Somerset. Adjusting, I dealt with my fair share of struggles. I think it was great just being able to learn how to deal with that, how to process it, how to keep going with your work, how to get through it. There definitely were a lot of learning moments.<\/p>\n

What was the toughest part about hitting Double-A pitching two years out of high school?<\/p>\n

Lombard: As you get to that level, the pitchers are just a little bit more in touch with what they\u2019re trying to do with their game planning and how they use their pitches. I had to learn how to deal with getting one hit in four days with some strikeouts. I had to learn how to stay composed when you have that struggle, learn how to move past it. <\/p>\n

Three scouts who are with other teams told me last season that you definitely are the shortstop of the Yankees\u2019 future, not Anthony Volpe. I know it\u2019s clich\u00e9 to say, \u2018One day at a time, one year at a time,\u2019 but you\u2019re human. Do you wonder how this is going to play out?<\/p>\n

Lombard: Like you said, it is clich\u00e9. But that short-term mentality where I\u2019m just with blinders on, focusing on myself, I think that\u2019s the key to it. We don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen in the future. A million things can happen between now and then, a lot of completely unexpected things, so I just always try to stay away from looking too far ahead into the future and focus on my day-to-day stuff. I trust that whatever\u2019s in my road ahead is going to figure itself out like everything else does.<\/p>\n

You spent some time with Volpe last year during spring training. Like you, teammates and coaches always bring up how good of a person he is and how hard he works. I\u2019m guessing that you guys bonded in some way.<\/p>\n

Lombard: Yeah, Volpe was great. We spent a lot of time together. We worked out together. He helped me out a lot learning the game, learning things on defense, learning the lifestyle, learning to be a leader. He\u2019s a great dude, and I\u2019m really grateful for all that he has helped me so far.<\/p>\n

I remember a day from last spring training when Aaron Judge mentioned he spent some time watching your infield work on a back field. He was raving about you. He\u2019s also talked about your makeup as well as your talent.<\/p>\n

Lombard: I\u2019m grateful hearing things from people that I value their opinion. I take pride in being a professional. When I\u2019m on the field, it\u2019s not like I\u2019m doing stuff trying to portray something. I just go out there and be myself as a baseball player.<\/p>\n

If Judge is raving about your work habits and makeup, that\u2019s saying a lot because he\u2019s as good as it gets in those areas. Was it your family who shaped you into being who you are as a young man?<\/p>\n

Lombard: It\u2019s a lot of things. First off, I always have to mention both of my parents. My dad, having been around the game a long time, he\u2019s done it all coming up as a prospect, struggling, dealing with injuries, having a long career. He knows the game. Outside of the game, he\u2019s a great person who taught me so much \u2026 how to handle myself off the field, how to treat other people, how to handle myself when things don\u2019t go my way. So he\u2019s taught me not only the baseball side of my life, but the human side, too. My mom as well. She\u2019s also been a huge influence, putting me in a good spot, knowing how to treat people, the work ethic. I have a great family, but the whole support staff I\u2019ve had around me \u2014 my parents, my family, the coaches that I\u2019ve had \u2014 everybody has really been in alignment and helped me be the person that I am today.<\/p>\n

I was a Phillies beat writer for 17 years and remember a young Chase Utley telling me his dad pulled him from a Little League game when he threw a tantrum. Did anything similar happen to you that became a learning experience?<\/p>\n

Lombard: Hearing you mention Chase\u2019s name, I\u2019m smiling because my dad was coaching in L.A. when Chase was with the Dodgers. One of the first gloves I used was given to me by Chase Utley. Chase is the man. But, yeah, I actually can remember times when I first started playing in a league and my competitiveness would take over. I was 10-11 years old and would get out of control sometimes. My dad made sure that I grew out of that. He taught me not only can I not do that, but why that\u2019s not the right thing to do. I remember one time getting out, throwing my stuff down and then sitting in the corner of the dugout all by myself. I didn\u2019t want to talk to my teammates. After that, my dad told me, \u2018I don\u2019t care how you perform. I don\u2019t care what the results are on the field. I don\u2019t care how you do. The two things I care about are your effort and your attitude.\u2019 Ever since then, I\u2019ve played with that mentality. I separate how I\u2019m doing as a baseball player and making sure that I\u2019m controlling that effort and my attitude.<\/p>\n

When you were a kid and your dad was coaching in the big leagues, how much time did you spend around his teams?<\/p>\n

Lombard: For five years, from 2016 until 2020, my dad coached for the Dodgers. When school finished, we would pack up and go to L.A. We were with him the whole summer. We traveled to road games. I was on the field every day messing around. I remember playing video games with Cody Bellinger. Another future Yankee was in L.A., Alex Verdugo. He\u2019s a character. He was great to me. The guy I watched the most was Corey Seager. He plays shortstop, I play shortstop. I learned a ton watching Seager go about his business. Teoscar Hernandez was another guy I learned a lot from. He would be out in the field and have me work with him all the time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a huge advantage for a kid, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Lombard: A hundred percent. Having that experience, being around that lifestyle and seeing how those guys work, just watching and learning helped me a ton not only in the baseball side, but the big leaguer part of it.<\/p>\n

Judge has a $360-million contract. He uses his money and fame to help a lot of kids in his ALL RISE Foundation. You received a nice seven-figure signing bonus from the Yankees as an 18-year-old. Down the road, you could make a lot more and have a chance to make a big difference in your community. Is that something that you\u2019ve already thought about?<\/p>\n

Lombard: That\u2019s something my parents have always preached. It is a blessing to be in my fantastic situation. When you have the ability to help people that have been less fortunate, it\u2019s something that always brings me a lot of joy. It\u2019s something that I\u2019ve already done and I will continue to do as long as I\u2019m in a position to do so. I see a lot of stuff that Judge and other players around the league do. I look forward to eventually do things like they do.<\/p>\n

The college football national championship game is coming up. Miami is your hometown team, but Indiana has Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, a quarterback from Miami who is easy to root for because he\u2019s so good and so likable. Are you a Canes fan? Have you become a Mendoza fan?<\/p>\n

Lombard: It\u2019s really cool to see what Mendoza\u2019s doing, but I definitely consider myself a Canes fan because I was born and raised in Miami. My brother is committed there, and I\u2019ve got a bunch of friends there that play baseball, so now I have more of a connection. I\u2019ve watched their whole run.<\/p>\n

Your little brother Jacob is a pretty good shortstop, too, a projected high first-round pick this year.<\/p>\n

Lombard: I\u2019m excited for him. He\u2019s worked for this for a really long time and he\u2019s earned everything. He\u2019s put himself in a really good spot.<\/p>\n

You were a two-sport standout in high school. Give me a scouting report on your soccer skills?<\/p>\n

Lombard: Our team was really good, so I had players that could trust around me. I was a center back who definitely was more on the physical side than the super-technical side. I was a good leader, a good captain of the team, a good voice. I made sure all our pieces were in the right spot. I could get physical when I needed to. I made sure that I was that last line of defense and nobody was getting past me.<\/p>\n

Your mom played soccer, too, right? I\u2019ve heard people say she might be the best athlete in the family.<\/p>\n

Lombard: She played soccer, ran track and did gymnastics in high school. She was an elite-level gymnast in college. She\u2019s a really good athlete. She would throw baseballs to us when we were little. Now she plays a ton of tennis, so we play a lot of together. I\u2019m a tennis fan. When I was little, our family went to the Miami Open every year. I went to the U.S. Open last year. That was really cool.<\/p>\n

What are your goals for this year? You might start the season back in Somerset. You\u2019ll probably be in Triple-A at some point, maybe early on. Who knows? Maybe you\u2019ll get to the big leagues this year.<\/p>\n

Lombard: Keep doing my thing. Keep facing whatever gets thrown at me. And, yeah, we\u2019ll see where I end up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr., a five-tool shortstop who was promoted to the Double-A Somerset Patriots last season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-419261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}