New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. hit the Yankees' first grand slam of 2026 against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. The Yankees, despite hitting the fourth-most homers in MLB with 194, hadn't cashed in with the bases loaded up to that point all season. The Yankees' last grand slam came nearly a full year prior to Lombard's, coming off of Ben Rice's bat against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 21, 2025.
Lombard, who is still the Yankees' No. 1 prospect as he hasn't reached the required service time to exceed his rookie limits, came up to the team just after Aug. 3's trade deadline, and has had an up-and-down first month in the majors. He kicked off his MLB career on a high note in his debut, hitting a solo homer for his first MLB knock while showcasing some fantastic defense, but things didn't stay that way afterwards. Lombard's bat hasn't kept up with MLB pitching, as he has just a .681 OPS through his 28 games.
Across those appearances, he has three homers and 11 RBIs, posting a .242/.302/.379 slash line. Additionally, the rookie has committed seven errors through 244.1 innings at shortstop this season, and his fielding run value already sits in the negatives. Despite some rough showings over the past few weeks, though, fans in the Bronx are extremely excited about the 21-year-old.
Despite their strong performances over the course of the year, the Yankees noticeably struggled with the bases loaded heading into Wednesday's game. They batted .255 with the bases loaded this season, ranking 18th in MLB, and driving in 83 runs from those positions on the year, which puts them in the bottom third of the league. Additionally, only one other team hadn't hit a grand slam all year, that team being the Milwaukee Brewers — though their numbers are far better than the Yankees' with the bases juiced.
Milwaukee leads the league in batting average with the bases loaded with a .349 mark, and has the third-most RBIs from those positions. If the Yankees are to compete with teams like the Brewers in the postseason, they'll have to take advantage of situations like those far better.
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