MLB's No. 5 Draft prospect has 'cheat sheet' to turning pro, thanks to his brother

The fact that this year’s Draft is taking place in the City of Brotherly Love might not be more fitting for any prospect than Jacob Lombard.

But as perhaps any brother might know, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry. And, in this case, the familial competition is played at a very high level. The No. 5 prospect in this year’s Draft class’ older brother is George Lombard Jr., the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect who is currently No. 20 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list.

George went No. 26 overall in the 2023 Draft; Jacob is slotted to come off the board close to the very top of the Draft. Could that cause some tension?

"I've gotten over the competitive part of it," George said. "I want him to do as well as he can. Hopefully, he’ll go much higher than me."

"I mean, it never hurts to rub it in a little bit," Jacob joked. "As a younger brother, you have to. Younger brothers are all better, that’s what they say. No, he’s just as happy for me as I am for him. It will always be that way. The main goal is for us both to be our best selves every single day, and we’ll both be at peace with that as long as we’re both doing it."

Jacob is very appreciative that his older brother has been doing just that in pro ball for the last couple of years. It provides him a road map he can follow as he prepares to embark on a similar path.

"It’s incredible, what he’s doing, how he’s already knocking on the door at such a young age," Jacob said about his brother, who is already in Triple-A. "I call him every single day almost and ask him how his day went. Seeing the way he’s been able to carry himself through a strenuous Minor League season, on good days, on bad days, he remains consistent. It’s pretty awesome watching him go about things.

"I almost feel like I have a cheat sheet. It’s not going to directly correlate and my career is separate and going about it myself is going to be a completely different experience. But watching him struggle, watching him have specific moments that I can take for myself to hopefully get a head start when they come across me is huge. Getting to see the ups, the downs, watching him play through tough moments, it’s all going to help me so much."

It already has. George has stumbled a time or two, when reaching a new level. On the summer showcase circuit last year, scouts were concerned about Jacob’s swing-and-miss issues. There’s no question that seeing his brother work through that helped him turn the page and make adjustments, to the point where scouts in the Miami area no longer voiced worry about his feel to hit.

"It’s part of the way I’ve been raised and the way I’ve been taught to go about things is to not get too caught up in the present," Jacob said. "Yeah, I’m a competitor, so I always want to win today, right now, but the way I go about my development because I started baseball pretty late, the same thing goes for failure, like during the summer.

"I’m less worried about results and more worried about if I fail, 'Hey, what can I take away from it that’s going to help me down the road?' I’m almost looking back [positively at] having had those struggles, those learning points, rather than killing it and having nothing to take away from it."

It’s not just his brother who has helped with that foundation, of course. This is a family business. Dad, George Sr., played parts of eight years in the big leagues, and is currently the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers. Both Lombard boys were encouraged to play multiple sports growing up, and Jacob played soccer at a very high level for a very long time, allowing them to come to baseball full-time on their own time and of their own accord.

"I give so much credit, even now, to him, for handling that situation the way he did," Jacob said about his father. "I’m sure a lot of ex-big leaguers would push or guide their son to a certain path. My dad was the opposite. Of course, he wanted me to be ambitious about something, have a passion, go all in on whatever I was doing, whether it was soccer, football, gymnastics, whatever it was, he wasn’t going to just let me stroll my way through life. It naturally happened, when I told him this is what I want to do, he was in full support mode, like he always was. Both my mom and dad were on the same page."

Both Jacob and George Jr. have largely been in sync, too, especially when it comes to making this next huge step. The older brother hasn’t made it to the big leagues yet – Jacob admits it’s surreal to think about the possibility of having two Lombards in the big leagues at some point in the same summer he’s about to get drafted – but has been giving baby bro some sage advice.

"We’ve definitely talked about it; I went through the process," George said. "My biggest thing for him is to stay in the moment, not try to get ahead of yourself, especially when his season was still going on. Just worry about his team, worry about winning games and the other stuff will figure itself out. Just be yourself, play hard and just enjoy it. This is time you won’t get back."

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That doesn’t mean the pair is always in lock step. They are ultra competitive, and brothers, after all.

"Ask him who is a better ping-pong player, and if he tells you he is, he’s lying," George said.

"Actually, you might have to re-ask him this question (ping-pong)," Jacob responded. "I went and saw him in Scranton and I beat him in a ping-pong match, with everyone watching. I beat him when it mattered. But he does tend to get me, I’ll give him credit there."

George isn’t even willing to give an inch when it comes to soccer, which Jacob thinks isn’t even a competition.

"I wouldn’t give him that one either, neck and neck there," he said.

"That one there’s no hesitation; it's not even close," Jacob said. "Hopefully, everyone sends him this clip. He is, in no universe, a better soccer player than me."