The New York Yankees secured a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, but the story of the game was rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr.
New York decided Monday night to call up Lombard Jr., the team’s top prospect, and while he made several clean plays in the field, his first MLB hit was a Bronx bomb to left field.
He became just the 14th player in Yankees franchise history to homer in his debut and is the second-youngest shortstop to hit a homer. The only player younger was Bobby Murcer at just the age of 19 in 1965.
The homer sent Yankees fans and his teammates in the dugout into a frenzy, including superstar Aaron Judge.
Judge had a viral reaction to watching the rookie hit the first home run of his career in his first game — something he also accomplished back in his debut in 2016.
Check it out:
The Captain approves 🫡
Aaron Judge loved George Lombard Jr.’s first MLB home run! https://t.co/EahCw089Y9 pic.twitter.com/ynJwazdDvW
— MLB (@MLB) August 5, 2026
Fans React on Social Media
“When Aaron Judge approves your first MLB homer, that’s basically a Yankees welcome certificate,” a fan said.
Someone else added, “Absolutely, the captain approves.”
Another person wrote, “When the Captain gives you the nod, you know you’ve officially arrived!”
“That was absolutely legendary,” another fan commented.
When Is Judge Returning?
The biggest question Yankees fans are waiting for an answer on is when Judge will return, but manager Aaron Boone provided an encouraging update on the team captain while still not giving a clear timeline.
Judge has not played since May 31 after landing on the injured list with a fractured rib.
“There’s a lot of doctors, trainers involved in that and obviously they’re treating him every day. All I can tell you is I know in talking to Judgy… he started to feel a lot better a few weeks ago when the image showed it was improving, and it feels like over the last couple weeks he feels quite a bit better and that needle continues to move,” Boone said Tuesday during an appearance on Talkin’ Yanks. “I don’t know the exact date. I think it’s going to be here soon [to get an MRI], and when we know he’s going for the MRI, we will give you that update.”
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