George Lombard Jr.’s Saturday night ended early, and the Yankees are waiting on imaging to find out how serious it might be.
The rookie shortstop left the second game of the doubleheader against the Red Sox after three innings with right knee discomfort, and the team said he was headed from Yankee Stadium to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for imaging.
The issue started in the second inning against Boston starter Brayan Bello. Lombard was in the box when a fastball ran inside and he twisted his knee on the swing. The pitch never hit him, but he immediately asked for time after the awkward movement.
He looked uncomfortable right away, grimacing and hopping out of the box on his left foot. After that, he grabbed at the knee and flexed it with a trainer, but he stayed in the game and lined a single to left on the very next pitch.
“Just felt a little something in his knee when he took that swing,” manager Aaron Boone told The Athletic ’s Ken Rosenthal on the Fox telecast. “We’ll kind of monitor him right now; obviously good enough to stay in right now.”
Lombard remained in at shortstop for the top of the third and came back to the plate in the bottom half, where he flew out to left. Boone then made the change before the top of the fourth, moving José Caballero to shortstop and using Amed Rosario at third base.
The injury is a notable development for the 21-year-old, who had played every inning since joining the Yankees on Aug. 4 after the club chose not to move him at the trade deadline. Through 23 games, he is hitting .253/.310/.367 with two home runs and seven errors.
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