George Lombard Jr. has committed an error in each of his last six games, making him the first Yankees shortstop to do that since Roger Peckinpaugh in July of 1915. On Tuesday, August 27, in a 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros, a Yainer Díaz grounder slipped right through his glove in the eighth inning and allowed a run to score. That’s 7 errors in his first 20 major league games — a .925 fielding percentage — and the question nobody in the Bronx wants to say out loud: why didn’t Aaron Boone sit him down?
A Record Nobody Wanted to Break
To find a Yankees shortstop on a streak like this, you have to go all the way back to 1915 and Peckinpaugh. The last Yankee at any position to reach six straight games with an error was second baseman Chick Fewster in 1921. Zoom out to the whole league and, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, you have to travel to 1992 — when Cleveland’s shortstop Mark Lewis did it. These aren’t trivia footnotes. They’re the context that turns a rough week for a rookie into something that demands real attention. Lombard is 21 years old, has played just 20 big-league games, and is erasing marks that had stood for over a century.
Lombard didn’t hide from it after the game. «It’s not acceptable. It can’t happen at this level. When you make your pitchers get extra outs, you make their job so much harder, and teams are going to capitalize. It’s something we’re definitely going to have to clean up, and I have to be better tomorrow,» he said at the postgame presser on August 27 (MLB.com).
Boone’s Patience — and the Question With No Good Answer
Boone has held firm on his confidence in the kid. After error number six, his tone didn’t shift: «The good thing about George is he’s very skilled and talented out there. Fundamentally, he’s very good. He’s going to get through this — just string a few together and start playing loose. That’s why I’m comfortable: fundamentally, he’s going to get through this and put it behind him,» he said at the same August 27 session (Yahoo Sports).
But the pattern is hard to defend. When error four arrived, Boone called it «just a little bump in the road.» At five, Lombard was back in the lineup. At six, same thing. There are managers who, facing a streak like this, give a player a day to breathe and reset. Boone chose not to.
The case for Boone: sitting Lombard doesn’t erase the errors, it just freezes them — and a day off might actually amplify the pressure when he returns. The case against: leaving him out there without a break turned a bad stretch into a historical record, and that carries a real cost — for the rookie, for the team, and for how the manager is perceived.
Remember Who This Guy Was Two Weeks Ago
It’s worth keeping the full picture in frame. When GM Brian Cashman called Lombard up on August 4 — after optioning Anthony Volpe to Triple-A — he described him as someone «ready to connect» in the field. The first 14 games backed that up: just one error in 64 chances and a plus-8 Defensive Runs Saved in his first 11 starts, meaning he saved eight more runs than an average shortstop would have.
At the plate, Lombard is still an asset: .264 average, .705 OPS, and a sprint speed in the 96th percentile league-wide — flat-out elite. His average exit velocity sits at 85.6 mph, which profiles him as a contact hitter with premium wheels rather than a power bat. The bat isn’t the problem. The defensive spiral came out of nowhere, with no documented mechanical change and no reported injury. Seven errors in six games from a rookie who, through his first two-thirds of big-league action, made the glove look like a magnet.
Boston Is Next — and Every Error Has Weight
The Yankees open a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox, and Lombard sees it as a chance to close this chapter. Worth noting: New York sits 4.0 games behind the Rays in the division — every error that lets a run score matters in the standings.
If Boone slots Lombard into the starting lineup on Friday, the pressure won’t ease. If he gives him even one day off, the narrative shifts: no longer a manager ignoring a streak, but one who recognized the moment. Friday’s lineup card will say more about Boone’s judgment than anything he says at a podium.
Lombard Jr. By the Numbers (2026)
- 79 plate appearances
- 2 home runs, 6 RBI
- AVG: .264
- OPS: .705
- xwOBA: .292
- Average exit velocity: 85.6 mph
- Barrel rate: 8%
- Hard-hit rate: 35.3%
- Sprint speed: 96th percentile (elite)
