MIAMI -- Jacob Lombard is a local kid through and through.
Lombard, who recently graduated from Miami Gulliver Prep, grew up attending Marlins games and cheering on the likes of Giancarlo Stanton and Derek Dietrich. He can tell you all about Otto Lopez's 2026 All-Star campaign.
The Marlins chose prep shortstop Lombard with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday afternoon, marking just the third time the franchise has used its first-round selection on a South Florida product (Chris Volstad, 2005, Palm Beach Gardens High and Charles Johnson, 1992, University of Miami).
"It's the coolest thing ever," Lombard told MLB.com on Sunday. "I made my college commitment [to UM] in hopes of being able to represent my hometown and play in front of friends and family, and now I get to do it hopefully at a pro level, so it's very exciting."
Baseball runs in Lombard’s genes. His father, George, was a Major League outfielder for six seasons and is the Tigers' bench coach. His older brother, George Jr., is the No. 20 prospect in MLB and No. 1 in the Yankees’ system.
Jacob might be the best ballplayer in the family. The youngest Lombard, MLB Pipeline’s No. 5 Draft prospect, is a 6-foot-3 right-handed hitter with enough pop in his quick bat and enough juice in his legs to pull off a 30-homer, 30-steal season, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis. His power and run grades are 60 or better, and he has the skills and baseball IQ to develop into a plus hitter as well.
Lombard’s baseball pedigree is to thank for that, and something Miami sees coming in handy going from prep to professional baseball. Jacob has already seen what the journey looks like and how difficult it can be.
"I don't think any of this is really going to come as a surprise to him," Frankie Piliere, Marlins vice president of amateur forecasting & player evaluation initiatives, said. "That's what makes it very appealing. He's not only just this dynamic electric athlete; he knows the things that are coming up ahead of him and how difficult the journey has to be."
For Lombard to succeed, he will need to cut down on his swing-and-miss tendencies, per Pipeline's scouting report. Pitchers in showcase events last summer exploited him with fastballs up in the zone. According to The Athletic’s Keith Law, Lombard had a 39% whiff rate during tracked showcase events in 2025.
While there is some question about Lombard’s overall feel for hitting, there is no debate about his defense. He has everything one needs to play shortstop for a long time, just like his favorite player, the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. Lombard wields outstanding athleticism, with an upbringing that saw him also dabble in football, gymnastics and soccer. Lombard stopped playing the latter his senior year in order to spend the winter training with his dad and brother, both of whom were given time off to celebrate with him on Draft day.
The multisport athlete also participated in several MLB Develops youth events, including the 2024 Hank Aaron Invitational, the ‘25 High School Home Run Derby and the ‘25 High School All-American Game.
“We're thrilled,” president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “We didn't expect that we'd be able to get a player like Jacob Lombard with the pick that we had here. ... [I] feel like we know his strengths, his weaknesses. He's an incredible human, comes from an incredible family. Obviously, a local kid and somebody that we couldn't be more excited to bring into the organization.”
Piliere acknowledged that a lot of the Marlins’ staff had even caught some of Lombard’s soccer matches as part of the scouting process.
“He's very well known on that front, and it's going to be very interesting to see as he puts all his time into baseball; we think he's going to get even better,” Piliere said. “He's already very talented and very accomplished in his baseball career. I think it's only going to blossom from here.”
If everything comes together as hoped, Lombard possesses true superstar potential. Lombard hasn't been shy about saying he thinks about playing with or against George Jr. in the Majors.
"I'm so happy to be drafted, I'm so happy to get the career started, but I've still been looking so ahead to becoming a big leaguer," Lombard said. "That's been the dream for so long, and hopefully playing with or against my brother. But what I'm getting to is the lesson is my parents really want me to stay present and kind of keep me right where my feet are. I'm really enjoying this whole process and soaking everything in."