David Lennon: Yankees hit reset with promotion of George Lombard Jr.
The Yankees’ top prospect George Lombard Jr. was the headliner for Tuesday’s round of introductory news conferences, but it was Heliot Ramos -- the congenial slugger acquired from the Giants 24 hours earlier -- who spoke straight from the pinstriped handbook.
“I’m very proud being here,” Ramos said. “Who doesn’t like to be a Yankee?”
Well, Sonny Gray didn’t. Neither did Joey Gallo or Frankie Montas (before he ended up on the Mets’ phantom payroll) just to name a few of the recent high-profile trade busts.
Point is, the Yankees got to press the refresh button Monday, and the vibe check didn’t stop with Brian Cashman’s uninspired effort at the deadline. While everyone still was griping about the pair of platoon bats the GM picked up in Ramos and Luis Garcia Jr., Cashman pulled off an 11th hour surprise later that night. He promoted Lombard, his shortstop phenom, and banished both Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
This wasn’t just a smart baseball move. It was brilliant PR for the embattled Cashman, who not only soothed the angry Yankee mobs by delivering what they always crave most -- The Next Big Thing -- he removed two of the fan base’s biggest agitators. Remember how much time and energy was spent on the shortstop debate involving Volpe vs. Jose Caballero? And how much longer could we watch Dominguez either over-slide bases or kick balls around the outfield?
The Lombard Effect was immediate Tuesday night in the Yankees’ 2-0 victory over the Cardinals. There was the home run, of course, when Lombard smacked Hunter Dobbins’ 0-and-2 sweeper over the leftfield wall, then glided around the bases -- the stuff of dreams.
But the real magic happened the first time he touched the ball. Lombard started a dazzling double play in the second inning, when he ranged far to his right for a backhanded spear of Blaze Jordan’s grounder in the hole, then spun to rifle a chest-high strike to Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second.
YES analyst Paul O’Neill told viewers it was a double play they hadn’t seen the Yankees turn all year (we’re 114 games in). Manager Aaron Boone remarked that Lombard’s “physicality” really stands out on those defensive gems.
“Like a puma,” Boone said.
Added Lombard, “I’ve made that play countless times in practice. Get into the game, and your body just kind of takes over.”
We get that Cashman didn’t produce the names everyone wanted at the deadline. Even worse, some of those, such as catchers Liam Hicks and Adley Rutschman, went to the Rays and Red Sox, respectively. But in trading for Ramos and Garcia, then riding with Lombard and Jones, Cashman came away with names better than the ones previously there — or at least having the potential of being game-changers.
Unlike Volpe, who was handed a prestigious low number — 11 — when he won the Opening Day job out of spring training in 2023, Lombard wound up with No. 96 for Tuesday’s major-league debut. So how did Lombard, the next franchise shortstop, land on his spring training number for the launch of what could be a Monument Park career?
“I walked in and that was in my locker,” Lombard said. “Who knows down the road, but that’s what I got for now.”
The No. 99 wasn’t cool before Aaron Judge put it on for his first spring training in 2016, so maybe it could stick for Lombard. But that will depend on how the former first-round pick (26th overall) from the ’23 draft performs going forward, and there’s reason to believe Lombard is here to stay for a while. He’s already got the big-league pedigree from his dad, who played six seasons in the majors and is now the bench coach of the Tigers, along with the talent and poise to match.
Lombard handled Tuesday’s first volley of questions with the ease of so many two-hop grounders, despite stepping into a playoff chase — for a $360 million Yankees team — on the same dirt Hall of Famer Derek Jeter once roamed. He only turned 21 in June, making Lombard the sixth-youngest Yankee to make his MLB debut in the past 42 years (Jeter is fifth on that list), and leaped to the Bronx after spending a total of 56 games at Triple-A. Hearing Lombard speak about the experience Tuesday only cemented the belief that he was born for this moment.
“It’s a hard game — you’re going to struggle,” Lombard said. “There’ll be ups and downs. Who knows what the future is going to look like. I’m going to be the same teammate, play to win, play hard every single day, play with my hair on fire.”
He’s definitely got the mental part down, and in New York, that’s a big plus. The same goes for Ramos, who grew up in the Giants organization but already was quick to embrace the Big Apple with both arms. Ramos went 0-for-4 after being quickly inserted into the cleanup spot for Tuesday’s debut and he’ll be a regular in leftfield until some of the injured Yankees — such as Cody Bellinger and Judge — eventually come off the IL. In other words, Ramos should be a mainstay out there for a while.
“They picked me for a reason, right?” Ramos said. “Honestly, I’m just here to give my best. The standards of this organization are super-high, so I’m just trying to keep that standard.”
Credit Cashman for ultimately doing that late Monday night. Volpe will now be learning second base as well as playing shortstop for the RailRiders and Dominguez is in a spot where his growing pains won’t sabotage the Yankees’ October goals.
“Tough conversations,” Boone said Tuesday afternoon. “But in both cases, I expect them to have really strong, long careers and this will be part of their story.”
Just not part of the Yankees’ narrative anymore, including a deadline reboot that could work in ways we didn’t see coming.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
