New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. is experiencing a difficult stretch of defensive play, committing an error in six consecutive games. This streak, which continued in the Yankees' 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Thursday night, marks the first time a Yankees shortstop has had such a run since Roger Peckinpaugh in 1915.
Lombard, who blasted two home runs in his first four major league games after his call-up on Aug. 4, has struggled to maintain consistency in the field. The most recent error occurred in the eighth inning when a grounder off the bat of Yainer Diaz was bobbled, leading to an errant throw that allowed a run to score and extend the Astros' lead to 5-1.
"I don't know; it's something I'm trying to figure out," Lombard said after the game. "Obviously, it's not acceptable, can't happen at this level. If you make your pitchers have to get extra outs, just makes it way harder on us. Other teams are going to capitalize. Something we're definitely going to have to clean up and got to be better tomorrow."
Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the difficulty of the shortstop position and expressed confidence in Lombard's ability to overcome the slump. "You're going to make errors at that position," Boone stated. "He's just happened to make a few kind of funky ones in the last few days. [...] I think over time he's going to be really steady, as well as doing all the other things that'll wow you with his range and his strength and all that."
Boone added, "His work's great. He's fundamentally very good. I expect this to be a bump, or a little blip on the radar. That's my hope."
Despite the recent defensive lapses, Lombard showed flashes of his defensive capabilities earlier in the month. He admitted to speaking with the coaching staff to address the issue and recalled experiencing similar defensive struggles earlier in his career, which he overcame with continued work. The Yankees have faced challenges at shortstop this season, particularly with Anthony Volpe's previous demotion, making Lombard's current streak a point of concern.
"Obviously, there's something to that, you start not wanting to make a mistake," Boone said when asked about the mental impact on Lombard. "The good thing about George is he's so skilled and gifted out there, and foundationally he's really good too. He will get through it. You just got to get a few going and then start playing kind of carefree, free and easy a little bit. [...] We got to make sure we guard against that. Over time, he'll be fine, just because of how skilled he is and how good his foundation is. He'll get through it."