New York Yankees Have a New Gold Glove Candidate

The New York Yankees have been difficult to watch lately. Yes, they've still been winning some games, but the process has been painful.

The pitching has generally been terrific (aside from Cam Schlittler's odd dud in his most recent outing), but the offense has been mostly non-existent.

The Yankees have hit some home runs, which is fine, but their ability to manufacture runs without the long ball has been almost non-existent.

As a result, they've had to rely heavily on a phenomenal starting rotation and an improved bullpen that suddenly has a lights-out closer in David Bednar.

And you know what else helps? Tremendous defense.

Fortunately, New York now has that in shortstop George Lombard Jr., who made multiple sparkling plays in his debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday and continued to impress in the field on Wednesday.

Lombard has always been lauded for his glove in the Yankees' system. It's a big part of what made him their top prospect. Luckily, his bat has been coming along, as well, but there is no question that his glove is the stronger part of his game.

Years ago, when Derek Jeter was at his peak, he made some terrific plays. Yes, I understand what the metrics say. Yes, I get that his range was questionable. But the eye test is also a thing, and I still have a hard time taking anyone who called Jeter a "terrible" shortstop seriously.

Well, Lombard is already reminding me of the Yankee legend, and his presence in the hole at short is a big reason why.

Was Jeter exactly Ozzie Smith in the field? No, but he was reliable, and you felt comfortable with him. Not only that, but he made everything look incredibly smooth, and he had a rocket arm.

Lombard looks awfully similar over his first couple of games.

Sure, it's only been two contests, but it's hard to watch the 21-year-old defensively and think that he isn't a future Gold Glove candidate.

Anthony Volpe did win the award for the Yankees in 2023, and he was really good at short in 2024, as well. But he hasn't been quite the same since, and there is no doubt that Lombard looks more of a natural than Volpe ever did.

It's only a matter of time before Lombard starts stacking up hardware.