Yankees rookie SS George Lombard Jr. avoids knee damage
NEW YORK -- George Lombard Jr.does not have any structural damage in his right knee, but the New York Yankees rookie shortstop could still end up on the injured list.
While he avoided the worst-case scenario, Lombard said he is dealing with inflammation and soreness in his patella, which kept him out of the Yankees' lineup for their crucial series finale against the Boston Red Sox.
Lombard, 21, said the plan was for him to undergo treatment and test the knee pregame Sunday before determining his status moving forward.
"It feels fine," Lombard said. "It's definitely better than yesterday. It felt a little stiff, and there's still a little soreness, a little inflammation in there, but not terrible."
Playing in his 23rd career game, Lombard tweaked the knee taking a checked swing in the second inning during Saturday's 9-2 win over the Red Sox. The top prospect finished the at-bat with a single to left field and lined out in the third inning before he exited the game in the fourth inning.
Jose Caballero got the start at shortstop Sunday. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Lombard's availability off the bench was not yet decided when he spoke to reporters pregame.
If Lombard is unavailable, the Yankees will be without a backup infielder Sunday.
"Structurally, everything's good, which is obviously good news," Boone said. "Right now it's day to day. They don't seem too concerned about it, but you gotta get the discomfort out of there and the swelling out of there.
"So we'll see what we have today, obviously then tomorrow. Then hopefully it stays day to day and he's back in there soon."
Lombard was promoted from the minors Aug. 4 to replace Anthony Volpe as New York's starting shortstop. He homered in his major league debut and has made several excellent plays at shortstop but recently committed an error in six straight games. Until Sunday, he started every game since his promotion, batting .253 with two home runs and a .677 OPS.
Volpe, meanwhile, has been in Triple-A since Lombard took his spot and is working to expand his defensive versatility. After splitting his first 27 starts between shortstop and second base, Volpe started at third base for the first time since he was in Low-A in 2021. He is a candidate to rejoin the Yankees when rosters expand Tuesday.
"The last couple of days we started to do some pregame at third just to kind of expand [Volpe's] profile a little bit, expand his versatility a little bit," Boone said.
The Yankees are scheduled to begin a six-game West Coast road trip Monday in Anaheim against the Angels, and Aaron Judge is slated to travel with the team to continue his rehab from a fractured rib. The three-time MVP took a step forward last week when he began batting practice against overhand pitching at Yankee Stadium.
The next steps for Judge are taking batting practice on the field and hitting high velocity before facing live pitching.
"I'm sure he'll be ramped up and a lot more involved in the pregame stuff," Boone said. "Hopefully out there [he starts] to get on velocity and things like that -- be part of the pregame stuff and just get more entrenched into getting ready to come back."
Judge has not played since May 31 -- over a month after he fractured his first right rib diving for a ball. He landed on the injured list June 5 and was effectively shut down from most physical activity until early August.
He was cleared to begin baseball activities in mid-August and has since added to his workload with increased running, throwing and swinging.
Judge on Thursday was insistent about not needing to go on a rehab assignment when he is cleared to play with the Yankees in a tight playoff race looking to surpass the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League East division title while holding off the Red Sox for the first wild-card spot.
The Yankees called up right-hander Luis Gil on Sunday as a reliever for that push -- or to at least provide some insurance after Saturday's doubleheader.
The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year has never pitched out of the bullpen in the majors -- his 54 outings in the regular season and postseason have all been starts -- and he made four starts for the Yankees in April before he was optioned to Triple-A.
But the Yankees changed Gil's role in the minors when he returned from the injured list earlier this month -- he missed more than three months with a shoulder injury -- and found great success.
Gil, 28, tossed 7 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in five relief appearances between High A and Triple-A before he was summoned to the Bronx to help a bullpen dealing with injuries and fatigue. Yerry De los Santos was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room on the roster.
"He's been throwing the ball well," Boone said of Gil. "He's done a nice job. He's been in that conversation -- not only this time, but he's been in that conversation the last couple times we've been in a position to call somebody up.
"Today is a case, with as much as we've had to use the pen with the doubleheader and everything, we need a little bit of length. And he can provide a little bit of length on top of the one-inning relievers too. But he's also earned the right to be back here."br/]
