Jacob Lombard, Gulliver
Courtesy of Gulliver
The Lombards have another first-round pick in the family.
And he’s staying close to home.
Shortstop Jacob Lombard, the son of George Lombard Sr. and younger brother of top New York Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr., was selected No. 14 overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday.
He follows in the footsteps of his brother George Jr., who the Yankees picked No. 26 overall in the 2023 draft. Both bested dad, who was a second-round selection in 1994 and played six seasons in MLB before transitioning to coaching (he’s in his sixth year as the Detroit Tigers’ bench coach and spent five years as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first base coach before that).
Many in the baseball world believe Jacob Lombard could end up being the best of the three.
Lombard, a Miami Hurricanes commit viewed as a near-consensus top 10 prospect in the draft class (No. 5 by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, No. 6 by ESPN and No. 9 by Fangraphs, but No. 20 by The Athletic), made a name for himself on the showcase circuits and has a well-rounded profile. He has the power and speed combination that could make him a threat to become a 30-homer, 30-stolen base player. He’s solid defensively at shortstop. He was the Miami Herald’s Dade 4A-1A Baseball Player of the Year this season after hitting .477 with nine home runs, 25 RBI and 52 runs scored for Gulliver as a senior.
“He has some of the best pure tools in the draft class, college or high school,” The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote.
“Lombard boasts one of the loudest packages of tools and athleticism in the 2026 class, and he comes from a baseball family that shows up in the fundamentally sound nature of his game,” reads his Baseball America Scouting report.
But there were concerns with his elevated swing-and-miss rate during his most recent round of summer circuits.
“He has the swing, strength, speed and athleticism to be a superstar,” Law wrote, “but can he hit enough to even be a regular?”
That’s a question Lombard will look to answer over time.
For now, he’s gotten through the first part in getting drafted.
It’s up to him from here to live up to the hype.
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.