What Derek Jeter told George Lombard Jr. as Yankees rookie prepares for playoff debut

As George Lombard Jr.prepares to become the youngest player in Yankees history to start a playoff game at shortstop, the rookie reflected on a brief chat he had recently with the player whose legacy still hovers over the position: Derek Jeter. Lombard, who spoke with Jeter in the offseason, said they reconnected when Jeter was at the Stadium earlier this month and the Hall of Famer delivered a similar message to the one he gave him months ago. “He just said to keep doing what I’m doing,’’ Lombard said Monday.

“Just focus on baseball and the game.”  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Lombard has impressed those around him with his ability to do just that, and it’s among the reasons why the Yankees thrust him into this position as quickly as they did. When they made that decision less than two months ago, promoting him from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the organization believed he had the maturity to succeed under pressure and would have enough time to prove he could play in the majors. All that with the idea that he’d be prepared for just this opportunity. “There have been a lot of legends that have played in pinstripes,’’ said Lombard, who turned 21 in June.

“It’s cool.I’m hoping to do my job and win some games in the playoffs.” Asked how Lombard looked with the Yankees set to take on the Red Sox in the wild-card series, Aaron Boone had a one-word answer: “Ready.” “Just watching him go through it all [these] couple of months, how he’s handled himself, how he’s handled success and fallen down, I feel like he’s totally equipped for it,’’ Boone said Monday before the Yankees worked out prior to Tuesday’s Game 1.

“You never know how it’s going to go in a game here and there, or a series.Baseball is going to baseball a little bit, but I believe in the skills and the makeup.’’ It’s what the Yank...