George Lombard Jr. Is Catching Fire and That Should Worry Two Yankees

There are two names who should be the most worried once George Lombard Jr. is called up by the Yankees.

New York Yankees infielder George Lombard Jr (96) hits a two-RBI double during the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The left side of the infield might look a little different at some point this season. The combination of Anthony Volpe and Ryan McMahon has been one of the worst shortstop/third base duos in the league since last year, and, despite a recent surge in McMahon's last 16 games, where he has hit .304/.319/.587 with a 149 wRC+, it's hard to trust him. If the Yankees are going to make a change to either short or third, it could be an internal one.

George Lombard Jr. could be an option, and Joel Sherman already mentioned that he could be in the plans for the Yankees later in the summer. It's not to say that Lombard would exceed what Volpe and McMahon have brought to the plate, but he would be an upgrade from Volpe and Jose Caballero at shortstop, and in October, they may feel better with his defense out there than what they're getting now.

New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon (19) reacts after striking out during the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium. | John Jones-Imagn Images

As for McMahon, the Yankees might feel better just shifting Caballero to third base once Lombard is up. Since McMahon has seen a regression by the standards of the defensive metrics, Caballero could be on par or better than his 1 OAA, and there's also a chance he'd be a more consistent bat as well.

Though the offensive metrics don't exactly peg Caballero as a prolific slugger, his .258/.313/.390 and 98 wRC+ would be a welcome upgrade at third if he keeps this pace up. McMahon is hitting .217/.274/.367 with a 79 wRC+. He also has an exporbitent 31.7% strikeout rate. Caballero has one of the better strikeout rates in the league. His 18.3% strikeout rate is in the 68th percentile in baseball.

Since 5/17 (incl. today), George Lombard Jr. is slashing .277/.375/.500 with an .875 OPS🔥

During the 24-game span, Lombard Jr. has collected 9 doubles, 4 homers, and 14 RBI

Adjustment period was 2 weeks-ish, and now he's starting to mash

Lombard's 4th AAA HR from today⬇️ https://t.co/Flas9vL0Yp pic.twitter.com/6wjHW9UEIL

— Cai Rogers (@cai_rogers7) June 13, 2026

Lombard in the fold

On Sherman's podcast, Pinstriped Post, he mentioned the possibility of Lombard being up with the big club by August 1st. He reasons that he doesn't believe the shortstop on a championship-caliber team can be either Volpe or Caballero.

"The Yankees, I think, can know this: defense and base running, they have no doubt about George Lombard," Sherman said on his podcast. "They wonder if he'll be competitive right now as a hitter, Sherman said. He's only 20, 21. He needs more Triple-A seasoning to do it. ... (But) the more and more I watch Volpe and Caballero try to do this, I'm not sure you're going to win a championship. ... Too much inconsistency at every way at too important of a position."

Lombard has been better of late at Triple-A, and his underlying metrics as far as contact look great. According to Prospect Savant, Lombard has an average exit velocity of 94.3 MPH and a hard-hit rate of 48.5%. Not to mention, he has had a pretty good eye.

Between Double-A and Triple-A, Lombard has a 21.7% strikeout rate and 16.5% walk rate. It's hard to say what that looks like in the big leagues, but even a slight downgrade to both would be an upgrade from what McMahon or Volpe are giving.