<\/p>\n
Jacob Lombard, Gulliver<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Gulliver<\/p>\n
The Lombards have another first-round pick in the family.<\/p>\n
And he’s staying close to home.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s in his sixth year as the Detroit Tigers\u2019 bench coach and spent five years as the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 first base coach before that).<\/p>\n
Many in the baseball world believe Jacob Lombard could end up being the best of the three.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s solid defensively at shortstop. He was the Miami Herald\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has some of the best pure tools in the draft class, college or high school,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Keith Law wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cLombard 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,\u201d reads his Baseball America Scouting report.<\/p>\n
But there were concerns with his elevated swing-and-miss rate during his most recent round of summer circuits.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has the swing, strength, speed and athleticism to be a superstar,\u201d Law wrote, \u201cbut can he hit enough to even be a regular?\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a question Lombard will look to answer over time.<\/p>\n
For now, he\u2019s gotten through the first part in getting drafted.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s up to him from here to live up to the hype.<\/p>\n