It’s careful to not get ahead of ourselves.
It’s still the very early days of George Lombard Jr. with the New York Yankees. There are still so many possible permutations of the career of the young shortstop.
But the Yankees have been waiting for a shortstop that plays baseball like this.
The Yankees have been waiting for a young ballplayer who has talent like this.
Lombard looks, in many ways, like the next big thing.
And again — there’s no need to rush it. There’s no need for massive conclusions.
Instead, it’s worth just sitting in the moment of what Lombard is doing right now. And what he’s doing right now is already mighty impressive and, in some ways, historic.
George Lombard Jr. Home Run History
Lombard joined Mickey Mantle in Yankees history on Thursday night.
He did it be hitting a go-ahead home run for the Yanks in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. The game was tied 4-4, there was one guy on base, and then Lombard lifted off to deep left field.
George Lombard Jr. CRUSHES a second-deck, go-ahead homer š¤ pic.twitter.com/ULT8kJ2EKk
ā MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2026
According to MLB Network’s Sarah Langs, Lombard became the second-youngest player in Yankees history to hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later.
The youngest was Mickey Mantle, who did it on July 29, 1952 — he launched a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning that day.
Lombard didn’t quite catch Mantle’s record, as he hit his homer at 21 years and 114 days, while Mantle was just 20 years and 283 days.
Still, incredible company. The Yankees rarely have had players break into the majors at this young an age. Lombard is breaking a lot of franchise trends, and he’s doing it in style.
George Lombard Jr. Stats
Lombard was expected to be a good player. The Yankees drafted him in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft at No. 26 overall out of a high school in Florida, and his dad of the same name played in the big leagues himself.
Still, as Lombard climbed the ladder and moved up prospect rankings, people were generally more sure about him as a shortstop than him as a hitter.
So far, Lombard has proven he can hit. In an era of incredibly low batting averages, Lombard’s .243 is actually a tick above league average. In 41 games, he has four doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 22 RBI. Lombard’s OPS of .718 is solid for his first trip through MLB.
The hope will be that this is just the beginning and that he can lift up even higher as time goes along.
Even if he can’t, Lombard can still be a solid major league contributor in the Bronx.
But given all the considerations here, of age and stage and talent, Lombard is sure off to quite the start in pinstripes.
Yankees’ George Lombard Jr. Joins Mickey Mantle in Baseball History