Yankees take Vanderbilt commit George Lombard Jr. in MLB Draft's first round

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SEATTLE — The Yankees, with two fewer picks this year, have to make each one count.

That understanding brought them to select high school shortstop George Lombard Jr. with the 26th pick in the first round — and their only selection on Day One of the First-Year Player Draft — on Sunday night at Lumen Field.

Lombard, the son of the former major league outfielder (and now bench coach for the Tigers), is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound infielder from Gulliver Prep in Florida.

Lombard is committed to Vanderbilt — a school the Yankees have raided in the past — and will need to be swayed away from college.

“George has a number of physical attributes and is an elite athlete with all five tools and skills to play shortstop,” Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ vice president of domestic amateur scouting, said in a statement. “He has ability to impact the ball and use the whole field for power, alongside good contact skills”

Lombard, who also won a state championship in boys’ soccer, batted .478 with six home runs in 29 games during his senior season.

Anthony Volpe also was committed to Vanderbilt in 2019 before the Yankees went over slot to persuade the New Jersey native to turn pro.

The Yankees’ top pick in 2022, outfielder Spencer Jones, spent three years at Vanderbilt before being selected at No. 25 overall.

It is unlikely the Yankees would select Lombard if they were not confident they could sign him.

Lombard’s father is an Atlanta native who was a second-round pick of the Braves in 1994.

The older Lombard played 144 games in parts of six seasons with the Braves, Tigers, the then-Devil Rays and Nationals.

“The makeup is a separator,” Oppenheimer said. “He is focused on every pitch with an unquestioned work ethic. All of that from a young man with Major League bloodlines. … We really see potential for a high-ceiling middle-of-the-field player.”

Lombard was the Yankees’ sole pick on a night that covered two rounds.

The Yankees lost a second-round pick and fifth-rounder as part of the penalty for signing Carlos Rodon, to whom the Giants had given a qualifying offer in the offseason.

Losing the picks brought down the Yankees’ bonus pool, meaning they only have $5,299,400 to sign their selections. The Phillies are the only team with a lower total.

The Yankees’ system can use replenishing. General manager Brian Cashman & Co. continually have plucked from their farm system to improve the big-league roster, which has left their prospect base short.

At last year’s deadline alone, the Yankees shipped away eight prospects — including seven pitchers — to land Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino and Scott Effross.

The Yankees’ top five prospects (according to MLB Pipeline) are position players, but their pitching ranks are generally deeper. The Yankees have not taken a pitcher with their top pick since Clarke Schmidt in 2017.

They chose catcher Anthony Siegler in 2018, Volpe in 2019, catcher Austin Wells in 2020, shortstop Trey Sweeney in 2021 and Jones in 2022.

LSU not only won the national championship, but they also won the draft, too.

Right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews were the top two picks of Sunday’s First-Year Player Draft. The twin selections marked the first time a pair of teammates went 1-2.

With the No. 12 overall pick, the Red Sox selected Kyle Teel, a catcher from the University of Virginia. The Mahwah, N.J. native — who was named ACC Player of the Year this past season with a slash line of .407/.475/.655 — was a three-year starter for the Cavaliers.

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