The New York Yankees finally decided to move on from Anthony Volpe as the everyday shortstop when they called up top prospect George Lombard Jr.
Lombard made a quick impact with the bat and made some dazzling plays on defense early on. However, he's had a tough go of things as of late. He's still been solid offensively, hitting .264 with a .705 OPS, but his defense has taken a dive.
Lombard has made six errors in the last six games, after making just one error in his first 14 games.
"He'll get through this and put it in the rearview mirror," Boone said in regard to Lombard's run of errors, per New York Daily News' Gary Phillips.
Boone was initially asked if Lombard could benefit from a day off, but he said he did not think so. Lombard has been a massive upgrade for the Yankees at shortstop. Volpe was not getting the job done despite having a very long leash. Lombard was regarded as an elite defender in the minor leagues, so perhaps his recent run of errors is more of an outlier than a trend.
Lombard made just nine errors in 536 innings at shortstop in the minor leagues this year. All nine errors came in his 49 games at shortstop in Triple-A.
Even if Lombard is not a gold glover at shortstop, the upgrade he provides offensively over Volpe is enough reason for the Yankees to stick by him. The Yankees have not really been healthy for most of the year, but when they get Aaron Judge back, having Lombard over Volpe in the lineup is expected to yield better results than last year.