Jacob Lombard keeps finding the barrel at exactly the right time.
The Marlins’ 2026 first-round Draft pick homered for the third straight game Thursday, helping Single-A Jupiter roll past Daytona, 13-2, in the Florida State League semifinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. With the win, the Hammerheads advanced to the FSL finals, where they’ll open Sunday against Tampa.
Lombard’s damage came in the seventh inning, when he launched a two-run shot to right-center and pushed Jupiter’s lead to 9-2. He was 1-for-5 on the night, but the one hit mattered plenty: he turned on a 1-2 cutter and drove it a projected 384 feet at 102.5 mph off the bat.
That blast gave Lombard a homer in each of Jupiter’s last three games, a stretch that includes the first game of the FSL semifinals and the final game of the 2026 regular season. Through his first 24 professional games, he’s already up to six home runs.
The early power has come with the expected growing pains. Lombard, the Marlins’ No. 4 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 67 prospect overall, finished his first regular season with a .220/.343/.390 line. He hit four homers and drove in 17 runs, but he also struck out 39 times in 22 games.
Selected 14th overall this summer, the 18-year-old is the brother of Yankees rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. He brings a 6-foot-3 frame and the kind of tools that pop across the board, with 50 or higher scouting grades in every area. He’s got the defensive ability to stick at shortstop, and the bat has real upside if he can rein in the swing-and-miss against velocity.
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