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TAMPA — The Yankees have spent the first few weeks raving about George Lombard Jr.’s makeup, work ethic and defense.
Then the top infield prospect went out Saturday and offered a sneak peek at his offensive potential, too.
Lombard crushed a no-doubt, 414-foot home run high off the scoreboard in left field during Saturday’s 9-3 win over the Astros at Steinbrenner Field, continuing a nice camp for the 2023 first-round pick.
“He’s been terrific,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s really so good defensively, special. He’s had a lot of good at-bats lately. His last two at-bats, he’s hit balls really well into the gaps that center fielders run down. This one he hit where the grass doesn’t grow. So I said, ‘Quit hitting them at them, you gotta hit it over them.’ It was a no-doubter.
“You see a young, physical kid continuing to develop into his body. Unbelievable makeup and work ethic and just a really talented athlete. He’s an exciting player with an exciting future.”
The Yankees drafted Lombard out of high school as a shortstop, but they have had him bouncing around the infield this spring, adding in second base and third base.
He split time between shortstop and second last year in his first full season in the organization, in part because he was teammates with Roderick Arias, another shortstop prospect.
Of course, the Yankees expect to have Anthony Volpe entrenched at shortstop for the foreseeable future, but Lombard has some time before he might join him in The Bronx.
“Once you get to the big leagues, when you’re playing for the New York Yankees and you’re competing for a championship, you go out there and play wherever it can help the team win,” Lombard said.
In 81 games at Single-A Tampa and 29 games at High-A Hudson Valley last year, Lombard combined to hit .231 with a .672 OPS and 39 steals.
He is likely to begin this season back at High-A, but will take with him the lessons he has learned from his first big league camp.
The 19-year-old Lombard is no stranger to being in a big league clubhouse, with his dad, George Lombard Sr., a former player and current bench coach with the Tigers (after previously spending time on the Dodgers’ staff).
But this spring, he has soaked in the experience even more, relishing talks with the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger and gaining “some notes to save for later.”
“Wow, really impressed,” Aaron Judge said. “He’s stepped right in and owned it all. He’s a hard worker, just like his dad. I know his dad was a hard worker as well and probably instilled that in him. But excited about his future.”
