Yankees’ George Lombard Jr. likely avoids major knee injury scare

· New York Post

The Yankees are optimistic they have avoided the worst with the latest injury to a regular.

George Lombard Jr. left the second game of a doubleheader against the Red Sox on Saturday night with a right knee injury that was described as discomfort. But after an MRI later at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, it sounded minor.

In his first at-bat, Lombard awkwardly checked his swing and didn’t seem right.

George Lombard Jr., who exited the game with a right knee injury, grimaces after checking his swing during the second inning of the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Red Sox in Game 2 of a split doubleheader on Aug. 29, 2026 at the Stadium. John Jones-Imagn Images

Manager Aaron Boone and trainer Tim Lentych came out to check on him.

Lombard, a top shortstop prospect, stayed in the game and singled to left field. He batted in the third inning and lined out to left, but he was replaced in the top of the fourth.

“He got imaging, I think we’re still waiting to clarify, but it looks like a day-to-day situation,” Boone said after the Yankees earned a split of the doubleheader with a 9-2 victory in the nightcap. “He felt like it was bugging him a little bit more. Just seeing him in that at-bat and getting down the line, it wasn’t great. Just felt like we needed to get him out of there.

“He was going to swing and really shut down, and caught his spike a little bit as he was putting the brakes on. Kind of tweaked it.”

José Caballero moved over to shortstop and Amed Rosario was inserted at third base.

If Lombard needs a stint on the injured list, the Yankees could bring back Anthony Volpe from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

George Lombard Jr. suffers a right knee injury after checking his swing during a second-inning at-bat in the Yankees’ blowout win over the Red Sox in Game 2 of a split doubleheader. He was forced to exit later in the game. AP

Since his demotion, Volpe hasn’t hit a ton, notching a .681 OPS, although he has hit five home runs. Boone doesn’t expect Lombard to miss much time, though.

The 21-year-old Lombard was promoted to the big leagues Aug. 3 and homered in his debut.

He made a number of sparkling defensive plays initially, but he recently had a streak of errors in six consecutive games before playing a clean game in the series opener Friday.

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His offense has also fallen off. Currently, Lombard has a .247/.306/.364 slash line with a .670 OPS.

But the Yankees obviously don’t want to lose him. It seems like they can take a deep breath after the initial concern over his right knee.