It took George Lombard Jr. less than two innings in his first MLB game to flash his potential at shortstop.
With one out in the second, Cardinals first baseman Blaze Jordan sent a sharp grounder to Lombard’s right that he snagged, turning and firing a throw to Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base to kickstart a 6-4-3 double play.
His father, Tigers bench coach George Lombard Sr., and mother, Judy, smiled from their spot in the stands at Yankee Stadium, with Lombard’s highlight adding to a day that also featured his brother, Jacob, homering in his first professional game with the Marlins’ Single-A affiliate.
But for the 21-year-old Lombard’s Yankees debut, his parents traveled to The Bronx, watching their son nearly beat out a grounder in his first at-bat before fielding two other ground balls at shortstop in the fourth inning.
The Yankees called up Lombard late Monday night and plan to give him plenty of chances at shortstop, sending Anthony Volpe down to Triple-A in favor of their top prospect and new shortstop of the future.
“I don’t think it’ll really settle in until, I don’t know, maybe a couple of days, who knows,” Lombard said pregame, when asked about growing up in MLB clubhouses and now getting a chance to be in one of his own.
“Definitely being in it and actually doing it, it’s different. It becomes real for the first time.”
