Baseball America Mock Draft has Braves taking George Lombard Jr

A new mock draft at Baseball America by friend of the site Carlos Collazo has dropped today and has an interesting pick for the Braves. In their third mock draft of the season Collazo has the Braves selecting George Lombard Jr., a shortstop out of Gulliver Prep HS in Miami, Florida.

If that name sounds familiar it would be because his father, also George Lombard, was once a top prospect in the Braves organization. Lombard, who topped out as the #26 prospect in baseball in 1999 according to BA, played parts of six seasons in the big leagues - including three with the Braves. Lombard played 144 career games and is in his third year as a bench coach for the Tigers, after five seasons as a coach with the Dodgers.

The younger Lombard is a right-handed hitter who is known most for his power. The hit tool has both shown some potential and some swing and miss concerns that have made some scouts split on what to expect from him. The other question is where he ends up defensively, as he is listed as a shortstop but some see him as more of a future third baseman. Overall Lombard is a prospect who, if you believe in his hit tool, carries a 50 or better grade across the entire scouting score card. His college commitment is to Vanderbilt, so if the Braves were to select him he wouldn’t be cheap.

In addition to Lombard the article mentions the Braves being linked to a number of high school hitters this year, and also mentions Walker Martin as a possibility should he be available. Martin is a player of some similarities to Lombard in that he is a shortstop known for his power that could have to move to third base in the future and has average or better tools across the board.