George Lombard Jr. – Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

Earlier this week, one of the top young prospects was recalled by the New York Yankees to take over the shortstop position. That young up-and-coming dynasty player is George Lombard Jr.

Lombard entered the 2026 season as the 46th best prospect by Baseball America while MLB ranked him at 32nd and Baseball Prospectus pegged him as the 42nd best prospect. Not bad for a 21-year-old who was drafted with the 26th overall pick in 2023.

Barely three years later, Lombard finds himself in the majors. The rapid rise from high school to the majors shouldn’t be a huge surprise, as his father played and saw time in the majors from 1998-2006.

Let’s take a look at George Lombard Jr.

The Stats

The time to bring Lombard up from the majors was now. Anthony Volpe has done nothing for the Yankees, slashing .224/.287/.373 during his major league career with a below average numbers in BABIP, ISO, HR%, SO%, and BB%. Jose Caballero has been decent at short as far as his bat goes this season, slashing .266/.315/.435 with eight homers, 24 RBI and 16 steals while playing at short.

But Caballero is not a natural shortstop and certainly is not in the same league as Lombard, whose glove has been considered to be major league ready for a while. With Lombard showing improvement at the plate this year at Triple-A, the Yankees felt it was time to insert him in the lineup.

The Tools

• Power

When it comes to George Lombard and his power tool, there is a lot of projection that is required. To the point, scouts like his power potential, giving him a 55 grade. The tools are there for him to be a 25-homer shortstop, which is why he is one of the top prospects in the game.

But right now, you have to squint to see that power potential. Why? Well, because before this season he never had a SLG above .381. That doesn’t scream “I’m a power hitter!” It screams “I hit a lot of singles!” But then you have to remember that he was playing professional baseball at the age of 18 and spent most of this season in Triple-A at the age of 21. At 6-foot-2, there is a lot of muscle that Lombard can still add.

Additionally, as he has progressed through the minors, his SLG has increased. In his first full pro season in 2024, he slugged .334. It increased to .381 last year and was sitting at .498 this year before being recalled by the Yankees. At Double-A, Lombard was slugging .400 in 20 games and then bumped it to .405 in 56 games at Triple-A. And while at Triple-A this year, his average EV was 92.7 mph with a 6.5% barrel rate and 47.7% hard hit rate.

• Hit

If you are expecting Lombard to hit for a high average, you will be disappointed. During his minor league career, he had a .248 batting average. But like his power, he has gotten better as he has progressed through the minors. He hit .231 overall in 2024, then .235 in 2025 before increasing his average to .284 down on the farm. But is he going to be a .284 hitter in the majors?

He could, but to do so, he will have to make more contact. In the minors, he had a lot of swing and miss. The result has led to 348 strikeouts in 1,493 career plate appearances in the minors for a 23% strikeout rate. At Double-A and Triple-A this year, that strikeout rate was 22%. If Lombard were a sure-fire slugger, you could live with that number. But he is not a sure-fire slugger.

On the flip side, Lombard has a good eye at the plate. He posted a 15% walk rate in the minors, and this season it was sitting at 16% this season. Thanks to his ability to take a walk, his OBP this year in the minors was .411, and for his career it is .372.

• Speed

Lombard’s speed is his best offensive tool right now. While he is still figuring out how to make more contact and hit for more power, the speed has always been there for him. He has 92 career steals in the minors in 333 games while only being caught 27 times for a 77% success rate.

However, if there is something to worry about, it is the fact that his steals and success rate have decreased the higher he has climbed in the minors. In 2024, he stole 39 bags while being thrown out only eight times, and in 2025 he was 35-of-43 in the steal department. But this year he stole a total of 14 bases while being caught nine times. I’m not suggesting that he won’t still swipe bases, but he may not do it at the rate he did in the minors.

The Results

With only two games under his belt entering Friday, there isn’t a lot to point to when it comes to his results. But he did show off one of his tools in his major league debut as he hit a home run to left field. He also had a walk in his debut.

But when you look at the progress George Lombard has made each season in the minors, it is easy to see a player who will have success in the majors. In 2024, his wRC+ was 100. It increased to 127 in 2025 and was at 140 this season. He showed the same progression when it came to his ISO. In 2024, it was .104, then jumped to .146 in 2025 and was sitting at .215 this year.

If for some reason Lombard is still sitting in your free agent pool in your league, now is the time to snag him. Who doesn’t want a shortstop with 20-20 potential with that power number possibly going higher?

Thank You

Thanks for reading, and come back again next week.