BALTIMORE — The rookie has been in the majors for barely two weeks. Yet the Yankees already have a collection of George Lombard Jr.‘s defensive plays that look like they belong in a full-season highlight reel.
Carlos Rodon thought Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a clean infield single Tuesday night when he ripped a grounder deep into the shortstop hole. Lombard ranged onto the outfield grass, gathered the ball while moving away from first base and fired across the diamond from his back foot.
Rodon’s reaction, caught by television cameras, was immediate.
“You’re a bad [expletive], man.”
The Yankees have seen similar reactions almost every night since Lombard arrived on Aug. 4. Ryan McMahon has praised the rookie’s body control, while Cody Bellinger and Aaron Boone have both marveled at how quickly the defense has translated. Entering Thursday’s series finale in Baltimore, Lombard already had eight Defensive Runs Saved in 118 innings.
Through 14 games, Lombard had already been credited with 1.3 WAR. Difficult throws have looked routine, and the left side of the Yankees infield already feels different.
That instant impact is why teammates keep talking about Lombard as if he has been around longer than he has. The Yankees did not promote him for theater or a late-season look. They handed him shortstop in the middle of an AL East race, and the defense has made the decision look comfortable almost immediately.
None of that is the part that has surprised the Yankees most.
The organization expected Lombard’s glove to survive the jump. Rival evaluators had called his defense major league-ready since Double-A. The Yankees had seen the same pattern as he climbed: the glove arrived immediately, while the bat usually needed time. The real question was how much offense New York could expect during a playoff race.
That distinction mattered when the Yankees made the call.
So far, he has.
Lombard is breaking his own development pattern at plate
Lombard finished the Baltimore series hitting .292 with a .352 on-base percentage and a .790 OPS through 14 major league games. He had 14 hits in 48 at-bats, two home runs, five RBIs, five walks and eight runs scored.
That line dipped after an 0-for-4 night in Thursday’s 6-1 win, but the larger point held. The Yankees expected offensive turbulence. Lombard instead arrived with competitive at-bats from the start.
A comparison draws the contrast sharper. After 24 Triple-A games, Lombard owned a .644 OPS. Through his first 14 games with the Yankees, it was .790, 146 points higher against major league pitching.
It does not make the majors easier. It shows that the adjustment period the Yankees had seen before has not arrived in the same form.
Hitting coach James Rowson said Lombard has shown an unusually clear plan for such a young hitter.
“He’s got a solid approach of knowing what he wants to do up there that you don’t generally see in a lot of young players,” Rowson said. “I’ve been very impressed. He’s a line-drive hitter that can use the whole field.”
A 66.4 mph chopper showed what Yankees actually like
Lombard’s most important hit Wednesday was not hard enough to impress anyone on a Statcast leaderboard.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning of a 3-3 game, he hit a 66.4 mph chopper down the third-base line. Coby Mayo had no play at first, Heliot Ramos scored and the Yankees took a lead they never gave back in a 5-3 win.
Earlier, Lombard had lifted a sacrifice fly to right with Spencer Jones at third. Baltimore had positioned its infield to take away a ground ball. Lombard gave the Yankees the run another way.
Boone singled out that at-bat afterward.
“I loved the sac fly; getting Bassitt in the air there the other way,” Boone said. “That’s a really good at-bat.”
Those two plate appearances explain the Yankees’ interest in the bat. Lombard is not trying to turn every swing into a home run. He has used the opposite field, taken walks and put the ball in play when the situation calls for it.
That fits the approach Lombard described when he was promoted.
“Wear them down. Grind out an at-bat and make them throw some more pitches.”
Pitchers adjusting, but Yankees do not want Lombard chasing them
The next test has already started.
Rowson said opposing pitchers are beginning to change how they attack Lombard. That is normal for a rookie with early success, and it creates the temptation to adjust back immediately.
The Yankees are telling Lombard not to get ahead of himself.
“The league is starting to try to make some adjustments to him,” Rowson said, “but his approach works against different types of pitching. We don’t want to change anything, because what he’s doing works.”
Lombard’s minor league track record showed he could solve a level after a difficult opening. He hit .192 in May, then .306 in June. After returning from a hand injury, he hit .377 with a 1.081 OPS over his final 14 Triple-A games.
The Yankees have not needed to wait for that second phase in the majors. Lombard has looked comfortable enough to hit in meaningful spots while New York fights for playoff position.
Glove was supposed to carry him while bat caught up
Glove was the original bargain when the Yankees promoted Lombard. His defense could help immediately while the offense developed at its usual pace.
Before the call-up, Yankees shortstops had a .689 OPS and an 89 wRC+, 10th among AL clubs. New York needed competent offense attached to elite defense.
He has given them more than that so far.
The sample remains tiny, and Thursday’s hitless finale was a reminder that no rookie gets a free pass. But after 14 games, the part of Lombard’s game carrying the most uncertainty had translated faster than it did at Triple-A.
The Yankees left Baltimore at 72-55 after a three-game sweep, four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. Lombard’s glove will keep producing the clips. His at-bats may determine how much bigger his role becomes in the postseason race.
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