George Lombard Jr., the Yankees’ future shortstop, left Tuesday’s game with a hand injury. This injury is a huge blow to the team’s plans for their infield. Lombard was getting very close to replacing Anthony Volpe as the starting shortstop. With Lombard out of the game, fans quickly found someone to blame. They pointed their anger at catcher Austin Wells, who is currently playing in the minor leagues to recover from his own injury.

“George Lombard Jr. was removed from his game tonight after injuring himself while receiving a throw on a stolen base attempt,” Talkin’ Yanks shared via X.

Lombard’s Triple-A team, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, played the Columbus Clippers on Tuesday. Austin Wells was the catcher for the game. At the bottom of the fourth inning, a Clippers player tried to steal second base. Lombard took the guard as Wells threw a laser from home plate. But the throw was away from the bag, and as Lombard reached out to catch, Clippers’ Bo Naylor slid to his left hand, knocking his gloves.

This rough collision caused the injury. Lombard was in a lot of pain but stayed to finish the inning. Kenedy Corona replaced him at shortstop after that.

Scranton has yet to update us about the severity of Lombard’s injury. Still, the injury comes at a terrible time. Lombard is hitting .258 this season and had just started to play very well. The Yankees moved him up to Triple-A in late April because Anthony Volpe was struggling so much in the majors.

“It’s not out of the question that George Lombard is the SS on August 1st,” Joel Sherman said about the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect. Lombard currently has a 21% SO rate compared to Volpe’s 22% this year. While Lombard is putting up a. 984 fielding percentage, Volpe made 19 errors in 2025.

This means Volpe will continue with the Yankees for now, and any rumors around his potential demotion to Triple-A would now be put to rest. According to the fans, all the blame falls on Austin Wells for complicating the Yankees’ plan. Wells was batting .166 before entering the IL, and fans may not have missed him much. But just as the Yankees’ top prospect is at risk of an injury, the fans are left unimpressed.

Austin Wells gets called out by the Yankees fans

As per the Yankees fans, Wells didn’t do any good in MLB, and now he is struggling in the minors as well.

“Austin Wells is still f—–g us even from triple A,” one fan said. “Nice throw, Wells. F—–g loser,” another added.

Through the first 47 games this year, Wells slashed just .166/.278/.255 with an uncharacteristically low .533 OPS and only four home runs. Pitchers have exploited him by throwing breaking balls out of the zone. In a game against the New York Mets last month, he entered as a defensive replacement. In the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs, he failed to capitalize. Again, in the 10th inning, with runners on first and second and only one out, he quickly put the rally to bed in a game the Yankees went on to lose 7-6.

So, the fans were already pissed with him, and just when his throw caused Lombard to leave the field, the fans couldn’t keep calm.

“They waited long enough that he got injured. Now we get Volpe forever,” one user feared. “We’re gonna be stuck with Volpe for a while. Hope Lombard is okay, and it was just a stinger,” one more agreed.

Volpe could manage only one homer so far this year and has already made two errors in defense. Aaron Boone is currently juggling the shortstop duties between him and Jose Caballero. However, with how Lombard is hitting in the minors, he is the Yankees’ future shortstop. If injury lingers, Volpe would stay as the starting shortstop, and that’s something the fans are not willing to accept.

“Wells can’t hit or throw holy s—,” one user remarked.

Wells failed to make hard contact before his injury, and now he is failing to put a good throw. Austin Wells is nearing his MLB return, and with him, Volpe would also continue. Something the Yankees fans might not be asking for.