The Buzz — Wednesday, August 5

George Lombard Jr.

The take Yankees prospect homers for first hit in MLB debut

George Lombard Jr. arrived at Yankee Stadium as the youngest Yankees infielder to debut since Derek Jeter in 1995, and his first major-league hit was a 392-foot home run off an 81.3 mph sweeper from Hunter Dobbins. The ball left the bat at 100.2 mph and landed in left-center, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead that held as the final margin.

He finished 1-for-2 with a walk and started a double play at shortstop, and the debut looked like the continuation of a Triple-A tear that forced the issue: a .377 average with a 1.081 OPS over his last 14 games after returning from the injured list. Anthony Volpe was optioned to make room. The club did not hand shortstop to a 21-year-old in a division chase to be patient — they did it because he was hitting, and last night he showed it in the first at-bat that counted.

George Lombard Jr. cards on eBay →(paid link)

Caleb Durbin

The take Durbin grand slam sparks Red Sox blowout win

Caleb Durbin's first career grand slam — 401 feet in the first inning of a 14-2 win — will lead the highlights, and it should. But the .723 OPS on the season line is the honest number: a solid everyday third baseman, not a slugger. The slam lands inside a real turnaround. After batting .163 with 9 extra-base hits in his first 48 games, he has hit .308 with 23 extra-base hits in his last 57, and the Red Sox have won 24 of 27. He stopped being a hole in a lineup that is rolling.

Caleb Durbin cards on eBay →(paid link)

Paul Skenes

The take Skenes form check ahead of Brewers start

Paul Skenes takes the mound in Milwaukee on Wednesday with numbers that stopped looking like his own. The 3.90 ERA is nearly double what he posted in his first two seasons — 1.96 in 2024, 1.97 in 2025 — when he became the first qualified pitcher 23 or younger with consecutive sub-2.00 ERAs since Dwight Gooden. The crowd asking what is wrong is not inventing a problem.

But the number underneath says otherwise. His expected ERA is 2.94, nearly a full run below the actual mark, and the gap traces to a Pirates defense that fell from 7th to 22nd in Outs Above Average with team BABIP allowed rising from .281 to .298. His K-BB% is 24% and his 3.6 fWAR ranks sixth among all pitchers. The fastball has dropped from 98.8 mph as a rookie to 96.9, and opponents are hitting .231 against it versus .209 last year. The velo dip is real, but the process holds.

The groundball rate fell from 51.1% as a rookie to 39.7%, and he has already allowed 13 home runs — more than either prior full season. Fewer grounders, more air, a defense that converts less. Wednesday in Milwaukee, where he has held the Brewers to 2 earned runs in 12.1 innings across two starts this year, is where the form check gets answered on the field.

Paul Skenes cards on eBay →(paid link)

Trey Yesavage

The take Yesavage exited start with knee discomfort, MRI set

The knee that buckled is the landing leg, which is why the Blue Jays did not let him throw another pitch. Trey Yesavage was pulled after two scoreless innings against the Astros when his left knee gave way during warmups for the third — he threw one more pitch, shook his head, and walked off.

Schneider called it a "pinch" in the knee, and Yesavage did not seem alarmed. But if the landing leg will not hold, the pitcher cannot throw, regardless of how calm he looks leaving the mound. He entered the night 5-5 with a 3.65 ERA over 18 starts, and the two innings he threw were clean: 16 of 27 pitches for strikes, no hits allowed. The MRI set for Wednesday is what settles this — everything else is reading body language.

Trey Yesavage cards on eBay →(paid link)

Matt Olson

The take Olson reaches historic consecutive-games milestone

895 consecutive games ties Stan Musial for eighth all-time, and the streak began May 2, 2021 — the last time Matt Olson sat out, after a left-eye contusion. He has started all but one of those appearances, the exception a defensive replacement on Sept. 24, 2022. This is not a hot stretch; it is near-absolute availability at a position that wrecks bodies, and it is the longest active run in baseball with Pete Alonso second at 523. Durability at this scale is the thing itself, not a byproduct of it.

Matt Olson cards on eBay →(paid link)