Minor League Baseball

New York Yankees Prospects Have a Grand Day to Remember in Win Over Houston Astros

Cole Gabrielson and George Lombard Jr. each hit their first spring training homers on Saturday. Gabrielson's was a grand slam.
Jami Leabow|
New York Yankees infielder George Lombard Jr. (18) throws the ball to first base for an out during the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park. on March 24, 2024.
New York Yankees infielder George Lombard Jr. (18) throws the ball to first base for an out during the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park. on March 24, 2024. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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New York Yankees

It’s probably safe to assume that Saturday will go down as one of the top baseball memories to date for New York Yankees prospect Cole Gabrielson.

A non-roster player at spring training, Gabrielson hit a 370-foot grand slam home run as the Yankees sealed a 9-3 win against the Houston Astros in Tampa, Fla. The homer came with two outs in the seventh inning off Houston’s Misael Tamarez.

It was his first hit in spring training.

His homer was the third of the day for New York. Fellow prospect George Lombard Jr. hit a solo shot in the third inning, and Ben Rice duplicated the feat in the fourth.

Just who is Cole Gabrielson?

The Yankees signed him to a minor league contract in July 2023 after he went undrafted out of USC. His numbers in two seasons in the minors are underwhelming, but the Yankees obviously see promise in the 24-year-old outfielder.

In 112 games, he has three home runs, 41 RBIs and a .219 average. Last season at Double-A Somerset, he hit .256 in 17 games.

Lombard, an infielder, is just 19. The Yankees selected him in the first round, No. 26 overall, in 2023 out of Gulliver Prep in Miami. Baseball America lists him as the No. 88 prospect in baseball.

Last season, he appeared in 110 games split between Class-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley and batted .231. He scored 56 runs, stole 39 bases, hit 25 doubles and five homers, and drove in 45.

His home run on Saturday traveled 414 feet to left-center.

As for Rice, a first baseman who had seven homers and 23 RBIs in 50 games with the Yankees last season, his home run was the first of spring training.

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Jami Leabow
JAMI LEABOW

Jami Leabow is the managing editor of Minor League Baseball on SI. Her love for the game began when her parents bought season tickets to the then-California Angels.