New York Yankees Make George Lombard Jr. Move Before Mets Game

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: George Lombard Jr. #96 of the New York Yankees celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a grand slam against the Colorado Rockies in the third inning at Yankee Stadium on September 09, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The New York Yankees won 6-4 over the New York Mets in their series opener on Friday night at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

New York is finally starting to get healthy, it seems, despite some notable players still on the IL. With four straight wins, they could be peaking at just the right time.

Ahead of Saturday’s matchup, Yankees manager Aaron Boone made some notable changes to his starting lineup, one of which included rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr., who has been a major addition to the team since being called up on Aug. 4.

Yankees Announce Lombard Jr. Move

With veteran slugger Paul Goldschmidt stepping into the lineup and batting leadoff, as well as utility man Amed Rosario, Boone has chosen to move around his batting order a bit.

For Lombard Jr., he will be moving down just one spot. After batting sixth on Friday, he’ll bat seventh in the batting order.

Other notable changes include superstar Aaron Judge going from third to second and moving to the designated hitter spot, and second baseman Anthony Volpe jumping up one spot from ninth to eighth in the order.

Here’s the full Yankees lineup:

Via Underdog MLB: “Yankees 9/12 P. Goldschmidt 1B A. Judge DH C. Bellinger LF H. Ramos RF A. Rosario 3B S. Jones CF G. Lombard Jr. SS A. Volpe 2B A. Wells C G. Cole SP.”

Yankees 9/12

P. Goldschmidt 1B
A. Judge DH
C. Bellinger LF
H. Ramos RF
A. Rosario 3B
S. Jones CF
G. Lombard Jr. SS
A. Volpe 2B
A. Wells C

G. Cole SP

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 12, 2026

Looking at Lombard Jr.’s Numbers

Lombard Jr. has played exceptionally well for the most part since the Yankees called him up, although his season hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows.

When things haven’t gone as planned, like during the skid he had defensively when he committed five errors in five games, he hasn’t wavered from it at all, despite being only 21 years old.

He’s appeared in 30 games and across 103 at-bats, Lombard Jr. has recorded 14 runs, 23 hits, three home runs, and 11 RBIs, while batting .223 with a .350 slugging percentage and a .630 OPS.