Three straight games. Three defensive errors. George Lombard Jr. has shown impressive flashes at the plate since he arrived in the major leagues on August 4. Yet, it has been his recent mistakes that are defining him. While the errors didn’t have a huge impact on the overall result, the New York Yankees fans refuse to take them lightly. And after he booted a routine double play, the loyalists made their feelings known on social media.
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“Lombard Jr. makes his third error in the last three games, and the Blue Jays now have bases loaded with one out,” Talkin’ Yanks captioned the clip on X.
The Yankees were leading 2-1 at the top of the fourth, and the starter needed to hold that lead. Carlos Rodon had already allowed a double to George Springer, and then he walked Kazuma Okamoto. Ernie Clement walked in with just one out in the inning, and within 3 pitches, he offered a chance for the Yankees to wrap up the inning. But Lombard, at shortstop, failed to grab the ground ball at one go. The result, you may ask?
Instead of a double play, the Blue Jays now had the bases loaded. Daz Cameron eventually hit a sacrifice fly, but it was still enough for Springer to reach home. Okamoto was out at third shortly after, but the damage was already done. Toronto had tied the game.
This was the third mistake in the last 3 games for Lombard. On August 21, he dropped a foul popup in the outfield grass. The Yankees were leading 3-0 entering the fifth, and his error made Nathan Lukes continue at the plate. The very next day, the Blue Jays were leading 4-1 at the top of the eighth, and similar to his error tonight, Lombard failed to field the ball cleanly. Myles Straw reached first safely, threatening to increase the gap.
Luckily, none of his errors eventually resulted in the team losing the game. Even on Sunday, the Yankees came out on top with an 8-3 win and secured the series against the divisional rivals. But the fans refuse to accept such misplays from a Yankee with a DRS of 8.
That’s why one fan wrote, “Lombard’s been pitiful in the field since they put that stat out about his high DRS.”
Another one commented, “Tailor-made DP ball. Should we be concerned yet?”
But some fans were a bit more supportive of the 21-year-old. One of them said, “Making all the tough plays is great and all, but gotta make the routine plays as well.”
Some loyalists even expected better outings than the previous shortstops, but the recent mistakes made them question, “Can he stop playing like Anthony Volpe?”
“It’s just ridiculous, honestly. No words left anymore for this team. It’s brutal watching them this year,” a comment read, reflecting the broader frustration.
The New York Yankees are still second in the AL East with a 74-56 record, and despite the errors from George Lombard Jr., the team is still in a good spot.