The Yankees’ top prospects are giving the organization reason to dream.
George Lombard Jr., Spencer Jones and Carlos Lagrange are among the young Yankees delivering standout springs.
And while no one from that group is expected to crack the Opening Day roster, their performances at big-league camp offer optimism for the not-so-distant future.
Lombard delivered his loudest statement of the spring when he led off Wednesday’s game with a 392-foot home run against Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet.
The righty-swinging Lombard turned on a high, 97-mph fastball and sent it well beyond the wall in left-center at the Red Sox’s JetBlue Park in Fort Lee.
Two innings later, Lombard added a 108.5-mph single against the lefty Crochet, who finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting last season.
“We’re obviously very excited about George, for good reason,” manager Aaron Boone said on Thursday’s YES Network game broadcast.
Already considered an MLB-caliber defender at shortstop, Lombard has flashed offensively this spring, entering Friday with four hits in 12 at-bats (.333), six RBI and two stolen bases.
MLB Pipeline ranks Lombard, 20, as the Yankees’ top prospect and No. 32 in all of baseball.
“The power’s there offensively,” Boone said. “The zone recognition’s there. It’s just now [about] continuing to get that experience and having that hit tool continue to develop, too. He’s got a bright future.”
Lombard, whom the Yankees drafted in the first round in 2023, hit .235 with nine homers in the minors last season. That included 108 games at Double-A Somerset, where he batted just .215.
MLB Pipeline projects a 2027 MLB debut for Lombard, who is yet to play at Triple-A, but Boone is already impressed by the infielder’s intangibles.
“He keeps getting better and better,” Boone told YES. “He keeps getting bigger and stronger every year. He’s got such a good work ethic, such a good passion for this game. … He plays every position so naturally. He kind of does something defensively almost every outing to make you go, ‘Wow.’ ”
Jones, meanwhile, is delivering another powerful spring — this time with an adjusted batting stance.
Now deploying a swing that begins with his right foot pointed down, Jones’ new mechanics have earned comparisons to those of another hulking left-handed hitter, Shohei Ohtani.
That’s after years of Jones being compared to Aaron Judge due their similar 6-7 statures.
“Those are two great references that I’ve been using, and they’re two of the best hitters in baseball,” Jones said Wednesday on ESPN’s game broadcast. “Been trying to model as much as I can, but doing my own thing at the same time.”
Jones hit .274 with 35 home runs in the minors last season — including 19 homers in 67 games at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre — but he struck out 179 times in 506 plate appearances.
The stance change has paid early dividends, as Jones entered Friday hitting .308 with three home runs and six RBI — albeit with five strikeouts — in 16 plate appearances.
“With the new stuff I’ve got going on, it’s just been about facing live competition, having conversations with guys, not being afraid to ask questions with the people that I work with,” Jones said. “Being super open, because it’s hard to get help unless you can communicate.”
Jones, 24, is blocked in a Yankees outfield that includes Judge, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger, as well as 23-year-old Jasson Domínguez, who, too, stands to benefit from regular playing time and could begin the season in the minors.
But if Jones’ swing-and-miss and strikeout rates decline, he could force his way to the majors for the first time this season.
“At the end of the day, I’m far from a finished product,” said Jones, the Yankees’ No. 6 prospect. “You keep working.”
Lagrange, 22, didn’t need to wait until game action to open eyes.
After he surrendered a home run to Judge during a live batting practice session last month, Lagrange responded by striking Judge out with a 102.6-mph fastball the next time.
Lagrange has continued to wow with his triple-digit velocity since then, pitching to a 1.59 ERA with six strikeouts over 5.2 innings in his first two Grapefruit League appearances.
The right-hander pitched to a 3.53 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 120 innings over 23 starts between High-A and Double-A last year.
While he is being developed as a starter, Lagrange — the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect — could factor into their bullpen at some point this year given his electric stuff.
The Yankees’ No. 3 prospect, right-hander Elmer Rodríguez, has been similarly nasty.
He pitched to a 3.00 ERA with five strikeouts in six innings over two starts before joining Team Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic.
Acquired in the December 2024 trade that sent catcher Carlos Narvaez to the Red Sox, Rodríguez was called to Triple-A for his final start last season. He pitched to a 2.58 ERA across three minor-league levels.
And then there’s right-hander Ben Hess, who entered Friday with a 1.80 ERA and six strikeouts over five innings this spring.
Hess, the Yankees’ No. 5 prospect, was their first-round pick in 2024 and finished last year at Double-A.
Lombard, Jones, Lagrange, Rodriguez and Hess were among the Yankees selected for the spring breakout game against the Atlanta Braves on Feb. 21 — as was shortstop Dax Kilby, their No. 4 prospect and 2025 first-round pick.
