George Lombard Jr. homers in MLB debut

Lombard is at shortstop and hitting eighth against the Cardinals at Yankee Stadium in his major-league debut on Tuesday night. The 21-year-old top prospect is an outstanding defender, which is the primary reason that the Yankees decided to bring him up for their late-season playoff push. He offers some over-the-fence pop, but is still developing as a hitter at this relatively early stage of his career. He was batting .268/.405/.440 with six homers and 10 steals in 262 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this season. It may be unrealistic to expect Lombard to make an immediate fantasy impact, but the talent is there for him to do just that. He’s a name to watch over the final two months.

Lombard will make his major-league debut against the Cardinals on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The 21-year-old remains a work in progress from an offensive standpoint at this stage of his development, but he’s shown some real over-the-fence pop at the Triple-A level this season. He’s a phenomenal defender and projects as New York’s long-term answer at shortstop, which means they can finally end the bizarre José Caballero and Anthony Volpe timeshare once and for all. He may not provide an instant fantasy impact outside of deeper leagues, but Lombard in a prospect worth monitoring closely, even in shallow mixers.

In five games since returning from a finger injury, Lombard Jr. has gone 8-for-16 with three home runs, four RBI, eight runs scored, and a 4/4 K/BB ratio. Maybe the only thing he hasn’t done well is get thrown out stealing twice. The 21-year-old has a very real chance to push his way into the Yankees lineup in August if he keeps hitting like this after slashing .306/.426/.571 in 14 games in June.

Lombard went deep in his first contest back at Triple-A since June 16. The 21-year-old top prospect wound up missing just over one month recovering from a pair of sprained fingers on his throwing hand. There’s a real possibility he gets the call to New York at some point in the second half with neither Anthony Volpe or José Caballero having a firm grip on the starting shortstop role. It’ll likely come down to whether the Yankees are able to address the position at the trade deadline with a veteran stopgap before they decide whether Lombard is ready. He certainly is from a defensive standpoint, but he could use to extra time to continue his development at the plate on the doorstep of the big leagues.

They condition this with the idea that he’ll need to show his injured fingers are fine and he’ll need to keep producing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when he returns. But in their eyes, the Yankees have no confidence in Anthony Volpe or José Caballero at this point. They also quote Yankees GM Brian Cashman as saying that Lombard “might be a choice at some point.”

Lombard homered for the second straight contest. He also walked twice and completed seven innings at shortstop as he works his way back from a pair of sprained fingers on his throwing hand. The 21-year-old top prospect suffered the injury on a defensive play at second base for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre back in mid-June. He’s put together an excellent season in the upper minors and could be in line for a late-season opportunity with the Yankees. He has the defensive chops to play in the big leagues right now.

Lombard underwent imaging that didn’t reveal any fractures and isn’t facing an extended absence. The 21-year-old top prospect suffered the injury on a play at second base during Tuesday’s game at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s ready from a defensive standpoint to play in the majors already and has had a strong season at the plate, slashing .258/.387/.446 with eight homers and 12 steals in 287 plate appearances in the upper minors.

The Yankees’ top prospect was applying a tag on a stolen base attempt at second base when his wrist appeared to bend backwards. He immediately dropped his glove and held onto his wrist in clear pain. We will await word from the Yankees on the severity of the injury, but it didn’t look good on Tuesday.

Lombard earns a promotion to the doorstep of the majors after hitting .324/.414/.595 with 12 extra-base hits, including four homers, and four steals in 19 games for Double-A Somerset. The 20-year-old former first-round pick is ready to play in the majors right now from a defensive standpoint and could push Anthony Volpe for New York’s starting shortstop job later this summer.

The Yankees kept the 20-year-old prospect in big league camp so he could play against the Tigers on Thursday — where his dad is the team’s bench coach. Overall in Grapefruit League action, Lombard hit .185 (5-for-27) with a homer, six RBI and a pair of stolen bases. He’s expected to begin the season at Double-A Somerset.