MIAMI — The Marlins signed 18-year-old first-round draft pick Jacob Lombard on Thursday at loanDepot Park, bringing the Miami Gulliver Prep shortstop home to the franchise he grew up watching while his father, George Lombard, worked across Major League clubhouses.
Lombard, who wore a home white Marlins jersey with No. 1 on the back, said the moment capped a childhood spent at the ballpark. “I love baseball, so I’ve been itching to just start playing again,” Lombard said. “So, I couldn’t be more excited.” As recently as March, the younger Lombard fielded grounders on the loanDepot Park diamond ahead of the World Baseball Classic final, where George served as USA’s first-base coach.
Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said the organization plans to push Lombard immediately, consistent with a front office philosophy that sent top picks Aiva Arquette and Cam Cannarella straight from collegiate ball to High-A Beloit last summer. Lombard is expected to start at Single-A Jupiter. “I think we challenge our players,” Bendix said. “That’s how we get better. We put our players in environments that are not easy, and it’ll be no different with Jacob. We have all the confidence in the world about how he will handle it on the field, athletically, all of that, but even more so, you get to see the kind of person he is.”
Frankie Piliere, vice president of amateur forecasting and player evaluation initiatives, said the selection came together late. “We’re lucky to get the opportunity to draft him,” Piliere said. “We weren’t really sure until probably the night before, where it started to really look like an opportunity. But it’s really a culmination of a lot of work on a really awesome young player, and we’re really excited that it came together, because it’s been a long time coming.”
Lombard is the younger brother of MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 overall prospect and the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, George Jr. A multisport athlete through high school, Jacob dropped soccer his senior year to focus on baseball — a sacrifice he said was necessary to become the “best player I could be.” He has spent the weeks since his high school season ended lifting and preparing his body for the daily grind of professional ball. “I see myself as a pretty good athlete, and now when I’m doing this every day as a job, I feel like that polishing of a baseball player and getting more consistent in all aspects will come,” Lombard said.
The Marlins enter the second half in possession of the third and final National League Wild Card spot, a fact Lombard said he has noticed. “It seems to me, at least from an outside perspective, that everything’s headed in the right direction,” Lombard said. “Obviously, they’re having a pretty good year so far. Having the family right in the backyard, getting to represent my hometown, it’s a pretty awesome deal.”
The Marlins will hold a camp at loanDepot Park for their draftees next week before issuing Minor League assignments.