RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesThe New York Yankees have had some very nice debuts this week. During Monday night’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Luis Garcia Jr. hit a home run in his Yankees debut. On Tuesday George Lombard Jr. hit a home run in his MLB debut.
Not that it should be a surprise, but the other junior in the Yankees’ lineup this week, Jazz Chisholm Jr., also hit a home run in Tuesday’s game. Lombard is the first Yankees player to homer in his MLB debut since Jasson Dominguez in 2023.
Here’s Lombard’s big moment and his parents celebrating in the stands as he rounded the bases:
MORE: Yankees make trade, acquire 23-home run hitter from Nationals
Lombard, who started at shortstop and also made a couple nice plays in the field, is the top prospect in the Yankees system. New York took him in the first round in 2023. The plan is for Lombard to be the regular shortstop going forward . The move coincides with Anthony Volpe being sent down to the minor leagues.
Aaron Judge’s MLB debut homer
Lombard is far from the first guy to ever hit a home run in his major league debut. There’s even a long list of players who homered in their very first at-bat , including Aaron Judge. Before fans get too excited, Judge wasn’t even the first Yankee to hit a home run in his first career at-bat in that game.
Tyler Austin was also making his MLB debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 13, 2016 . Hitting in front of Judge in the lineup, Austin homered off Matt Andriese to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Judge then came up and hit his own home run.
The Yankees traded Austin to Minnesota in 2018. He last played in MLB in 2019 and has a career total of 33 home runs. Judge is closing in on 400 for his career. So those are two possible career paths for Lombard going forward.
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