Yankees’ ‘gifted’ shortstop skyrockets in latest top prospect rankings originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The New York Yankees may have a star in the making.
While Anthony Volpe and Jose Caballero are taking care of shortstop duties in the Majors, a soon-to-be 21-year-old middle infielder is waiting patiently for a Major League opportunity.
New York’s No. 1-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline, shortstop George Lombard Jr., is in Triple-A and approaching his first promotion to the big leagues.
After previously ranking 24th on The Athletic’s Keith Laws’ preseason top 50 prospect rankings, Lombard has skyrocketed to No. 6.
“He’s a gifted shortstop and a 55 to 60 runner who has enough power to get to 15-20 homers in time,” Law wrote about Lombard’s potential on Thursday. “Given his history of adjusting to new levels over long periods of time, I’m not worried about the slow start.”
After tearing up Double-A pitching, the Yankees promoted the right-handed hitting Lombard to Triple-A near the end of April.
In 24 games, he’s hitting .204/.364/.280 with five extra-base hits, including a homer, in 118 trips to the plate.
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The Yankees believe he is prepared to be a Major League caliber player on defense, but there are hitting improvements they’d like to see him make. One aspect of Lombard’s game to keep an eye on: He’s drawn just one less walk (22) than he has struck out (23) with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Combining above-average plate discipline with a steady glove will help accelerate his jump to the Majors.
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