How An Intentional Offseason is Powering George Lombard Jr.’s Scorching Start

Leading off the final game of a six-game home slate against Reading on April 19, George Lombard Jr. found himself in a comfortable spot. At least as comfortable as one can be in a full count against rehabbing three-time MLB All Star Zack Wheeler.

He’d already faced Wheeler three times in Game 1 of the series, going 1-for-3 with a hard hit RBI double off Philadelphia’s ace. Now, prepared for the moment, Lombard mashed a sinker 104.9 mph off the bat for his third home run of the season – hammering his right fist in exclamation as the ball sailed 395 feet to center field. On the road a game later in Richmond, he hit a home run to right center, securing homers in back-to-back games for the second time in his minor league career.

That’s no flash in the pan for Lombard. An offseason of intentional physical and mental work has powered Lombard to a scorching .324/.414/.595 with four HR and 10 RBI through 19 games this season. The New York Yankees No. 1 prospect’s 1.009 OPS ranks second among Yankees minor leaguers, while he paces the farm system with 12 XBH and 18 runs. His 24 total hits are the second-most ever through Somerset’s first 20 games.

What stands out most is the jump from last season, where he hit just .215/.337/.358 after being called up to Double-A Somerset on May 6, 2025. But after an offseason where Lombard said he focused on getting physically and mentally ready, paired with a subtle swing change, baseball’s No. 27 overall prospect looks like a different player.

“His uniform don't fit the same,” said Somerset manager James Cooper, who’s coached Lombard at every level of his minor league journey. “He's put on a little weight – a little bit more physical. I think from a hitting standpoint everybody notices the batting stance change.”

Preseason, Lombard said he played moderately above his listed weight of 190 pounds last year. But after a two week hiatus from baseball related activities following 2025, Lombard focused on gaining weight in the gym, entering 2026 around 210 pounds.

Alongside adding to his stature, Lombard made slight mechanical adjustments to his swing. Working with Ricardo Sosa, his hitting coach at home, and Jarret DeHart, New York’s Director of Hitting, Lombard tinkered with altering the position of his hands, allowing him to get to his spots more consistently.

“I wanted to dig deep and kind of learn myself, learn my swing, learn my tendencies, what works for me, what doesn't work,” Lombard said. “I feel comfortable in the box [now]. I feel like I can get my swing off fairly easy.”

Lombard said part of that comfortability has stemmed from the familiarity that comes with another season in Double-A. It’s a mirror image to what happened when Lombard made the jump from Single-A Tampa to High-A Hudson Valley in 2024, before bursting out with a torrid start with the Renegades in 2025 prior to his callup to Somerset.

After slashing .226/.321/.296 in 29 games to end the season with Hudson Valley in 2024, Lombard hit .329/.495/.488 in 29 games to start 2025 – all while maintaining the same strikeout rate. This year, he’s bumped up his 2025 Double-A stats considerably while slashing his strikeout rate by nearly 22%.

Part of the reason the Double-A level took Lombard longer to adjust to is the jump in difficulty from High-A is arguably the biggest in all of Minor League Baseball.

“I felt like the whole time I was here [in 2025], I was just learning myself as a baseball player,” Lombard said. “[Double-A] is the first level where they really try to go after weaknesses or go after you with certain game plans.”

While the swing changes aided Lombard mechanically, a more confident mental approach was another focus he mentioned zoning in on in the batter’s box.

Invited to Major League Spring Training for the third consecutive season as a non-roster invitee, Lombard said witnessing Giancarlo Stanton’s process stood out. Specifically, Stanton’s preparation and readiness for anything on the field was part of a major realization Lombard had during his Spring Training stint with the Yankees in Tampa. Namely, the presumed physical advantage Major Leaguers have over Double-A is not the biggest difference between the two levels.

“It's what's going on between the ears,” Lombard said. “Like once you get to that level, every little thing matters — whether that's your preparation, whether that's just anticipating a play, whether that's a certain approach at the plate. I feel like that's the biggest thing for me is when you're around the elite players you see just how strong their mental game is both on the field and off the field.”

Part of the continued maturing process for Lombard meant using the offseason to build a consistent gameplan in the batter’s box. That way, there’s barely any thinking when he steps to the plate. Now, Lombard said he knows what he’s looking for and knows what he wants to do with the baseball. He’s eliminated guessing. He’s eliminated anticipating. Paired with his altered hand placement and added muscle, it’s completely unlocked his power.

After taking 83 games to notch four home runs across all levels last season, he reached that total in 14 games this season. While his AB/XBH – the average number of at bats it takes to record an extra base hit – has significantly shrunk due to his success during an early season sample size, the progress from his first to second Double-A season outpaces what a handful of power-minded Yankees minor league prospects have previously achieved in Somerset.

Like Spencer Jones (17 HR with Somerset in 2024), Austin Wells (21 HR with the Yankees in 2025) and Agustín Ramirez, who after being dealt for Jazz Chisholm Jr. in 2024, hit 21 homers as a rookie with the Miami Marlins last season, Lombard has experienced a similar power surge from his first year in Double-A to his second.

Meanwhile, Ben Rice’s first season in Double-A was so insane, slashing .327/.401/.648 with 16 homers in 48 games that his AB/XBH went up from 2023 to 2024. Now, his 1.183 OPS with the New York Yankees ranks second in all of MLB this season. Yet by AB/XBH, Lombard’s start to 2026 has been even better than Rice’s first stint in Somerset.

Ramirez earned a Triple-A callup after 89 Double-A games, Rice did after 98, while Wells took 113 games to make it to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Spencer Jones played 190 games with Somerset before being promoted last June. However for Lombard, 127 games into his Double-A career, winning is the only focus.

“The biggest focus here will be to win games wherever I'm at,” Lombard said. “Whether that's [in Somerset] for however long I am here, Scranton, Bigs, wherever it is — I want to stay on the field, stay healthy, stick with my preparation, stick with my routines and then win games.”

Adam Beck | Somerset Patriots Broadcasting and Media Relations Assistant

Adam Beck is entering his first season with the Somerset Patriots as the team’s Broadcasting and Media Relations Assistant. In addition to broadcasting play-by-play for home games, he assists with the team’s creative content, media relations and social media output. In March 2026, Adam graduated from Northwestern University, where he served as the Sports Director of WNUR Sports and Editor-in-chief of Inside NU.