Yankees Facing George Lombard Jr Decision After Latest Rankings

The vibes are good in Yankee-land after a series win against the Athletics, fueled by the offensive production of former top prospects Jasson Dominguez and Ben Rice.

Even better news dropped on Monday, as the latest MLB prospect rankings saw Yankees No. 1 prospect George Lombard Jr. rise from No. 93 to No. 44 in baseball, the largest rise of any prospect in baseball.

Lombard has hit to a .190 batting average in 21 at-bats with Double-A Somerset after hitting to a scorching .329 average and .983 OPS at High-A Hudson Valley.

New York Yankees minor leaguer George Lombard Jr. connects with a pitch while batting for the Hudson Valley Renegade at Heritage Financial Park.© Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After this ringing endorsement, the Yankees have to decide how quickly they are going to send Lombard up the ranks.

The top prospect is only 19 years old and was the Yankees’ first-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft.

Making the team in 2026 out of Spring Training isn’t out of the question, and the real decision is how trigger-happy the front office will be to promote him to Triple-A if he turns it around at Somerset.

The other question for the Yankees is whether Lombard will get reps at third base. The Anthony Volpe experiment hasn’t been perfect, but Volpe still represents a Gold Glove defender and average bat.

Even despite Lombard’s success, it seems doubtful the Yankees would move Volpe and his quality defense from shortstop to make room for Lombard. Jazz Chisholm seems unlikely to move back to third given his shaky defense there last year.

The Yankees have a lot of decisions to make looking toward next year, and whether Lombard will get a quick promotion and increased reps at third base will say a lot as to whether the Yankees view him as a 2026 call-up or not.

Yankees Facing George Lombard Jr Decision After Latest Rankings

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