Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr. made a strong impression during Wednesday’s spring training game against the Boston Red Sox by hitting a leadoff home run off Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet. The game, held at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida, was nationally televised on ESPN.
Lombard, ranked as the Yankees’ top prospect and No. 32 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, connected with Crochet’s fourth pitch—a fastball clocked at 96.8 mph—and sent it over the replica Green Monster for a home run. Statcast measured the exit velocity at 104.2 mph and projected the ball traveled 392 feet.
“It’s always good getting to face the elite guys in the league. I was excited for it,” Lombard said after the game. “I was looking for something to hit and not trying to do too much and put a good swing on it. It felt good off the bat. I’ll go back and take a look at it.”
Lombard, who is 20 years old and known for his defensive skills at shortstop, also singled off Crochet in his next at-bat with a line drive into left-center field that registered an exit velocity of 108.5 mph.
Crochet commented on Lombard’s performance: “I felt like I was just not really convicted in the [four-seamer]. I was just talking about that with Kutter [Crawford], just trying to push it up in the zone instead of just throwing it up in the zone. But that was a good swing, because it was still a good bullet by me.” He added about Lombard’s single: “Got behind, tried to throw a sinker, make him run out of bat. I thought he caught it off the end, but he still hit it pretty well. Yeah, good player, good swings.”
Lombard was selected by New York as the 26th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. While he is not expected to be part of the Opening Day roster this season, his development has been closely followed by team officials during Spring Training.
“You see what he’s capable of,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Lombard’s progress. “The thing he does pretty well already as a young hitter is he controls the strike zone and has real power. Obviously, a no-doubter there to start things off.
“It’s just continuing to develop as a hitter. The next level is, hit tool, keep developing that. Because the defense, knowledge of the strike zone and the ability to impact the ball is there, and he keeps developing physically year over year. It’s noticeable.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora also praised Lombard: “I knew about him,” Cora said. “He’s a good athlete. His brother is, too [Jacob Lombard, the No. 4 prospect in the 2026 Draft class]. He’s a good defender. Caught up with that fastball up. He’s a good player. He’s going to be a good player for a while.”
The Yankees went on to win Wednesday’s game against their rivals with a score of 4-0.