Anthony Volpe's Yankees Fate Could Be Delayed After George Lombard Jr. Injury News

The former first-rounder could have more time to prove himself.

Anthony Volpe might have more time to prove his worth to the Yankees after the latest news surrounding George Lombard Jr. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Shortstop has been frequent topic of discussion throughout the Yankees' 2026 campaign.

Anthony Volpe was seen as the de facto starter, but a delayed start to the season, combined with José Caballero's impressive opening stretch, left the former 2019 first-rounder with an uncertain outlook. Caballero's performance eventually tailed off, giving the Yankees reason to start Volpe more frequently, but that hasn't changed the fact that he's still far from a reliable everyday starter.

Volpe's frustrating decision-making was on display in the 5-1 loss to the White Sox on Thursday. He was first caught stealing at the bottom of the fourth to end the inning (h/t TalkinYanks) before getting called out when he attempted to stretch a double into a triple in the seventh frame.

Anthony Volpe thrown out going for a triple pic.twitter.com/ICswNPVauE

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 19, 2026

Volpe's rollercoaster-like season has some Yankees fans craving a change at shortstop, with one oft-discussed solution being a potential George Lombard Jr. promotion. While it would be great to see New York's top prospect in the big-league lineup, Lombard's current injury situation just took a turn, which will buy Volpe more time to impress the Yankees.

George Lombard Jr.'s IL placement buys Anthony Volpe time

Lombard's health has been a concern ever since Tuesday, when he left Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's 3-1 win over Columbus with an apparent hand injury. After conducting X-rays, the RailRiders confirmed on Thursday that the 21-year-old infielder has "sprained 'a couple' of fingers on his left (glove) hand," landing him on the seven-day injured list, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

George Lombard Jr. was placed on the seven-day IL with multiple sprained fingers on Thursday. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Obviously, it's great to learn that Lombard isn't expected to miss a ton of time and that he'll only deal with sprains, not broken bones. At the same time, even a minor injury could delay a potential call-up after the latest rumors indicated that he could potentially be the Yankees' starting shortstop by August.

After he returns, whenever that is, Lombrad will need to get back into the swing of things, which could take time. The Yankees will then want to see a stretch of solid baseball from him before finally giving him the green light to join manager Aaron Boone's lineup.

With that in mind, Volpe could use Lombard's upcoming missed time as an opportunity to stick around the Bronx for a bit longer. His up-and-down offensive performance is one reason why Yankees fans are ready to turn the page, as Volpe is slashing .250/.355/.375 with an 86.8 mph average exit velocity and a 36.7% hard-hit rate, as well as one home run and 12 RBIs over 80 at-bats.

His season-long performance hasn't been pretty, but Volpe has picked up the pace lately. The Big Apple native is batting .471 with a 1.256 OPS, two doubles, a triple, four RBIs, and three walks in his last six games (17 ABs). It's a small sample size and unsustainable in the long term, but it's encouraging and could show that Volpe isn't a lost cause just yet.

Anthony Volpe lasers an RBI-triple! pic.twitter.com/vHNfUi1xIH

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 17, 2026

There's about a month and a half remaining before the MLB trade deadline, giving Volpe even more reason to stay hot if he wants to remain with his hometown team.

Doing so would not only dissuade the Yankees from targeting another shortstop before August, but it would also incentivize them to leave Lombard in Triple-A, allowing him to dominate before seeing if he can hang with the big-league club in spring training. After all, he was starting to look dominant before getting hurt, going 8-for-21 (.381) with six doubles, two home runs, a pair of RBIs and three walks in his last six games with the RailRiders.

As promising as Lombard's future appears, the Yankees shouldn't rush him to the majors until they're absolutely certain that he's ready. Volpe becoming a reliable contributor would help with that goal, leaving time to tell if he's up for the task or if he's going to give the Yankees another reason to move on from him in the near future.