Player Profiles: 1st Base - James Loney

Alright, now that catchers are done, we'll move around the diamond. On to 1st base...

Player: James Loney

2008 Stats: .289, 13 homeruns, 90 RBIs, 85 strikeouts, 45 walks, seven stolen bases

2008 Analysis: It's hard to say that a player that lead the team in RBIs with 90 had a disappointing year, but James Loney had a disappointing year.

Don't get me wrong, 90 RBIs is a big plus. However, for all the promise he showed in 2007, his first full season in 2008 was a big drop off. His power wasn't there. He had a little more than 250 at-bats in 2008 than in 2007 and hit two less homeruns. He also saw a drop off in his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. I'm going to chalk this up to a sophomore slump (even though this is really his third season in the majors).

On a side note, Loney did flash a little speed, going seven for 11 in stolen base opportunites. Not bad for a 1st baseman.

Defensively, Loney showed some good improvement. For now, he's solid with the glove, and many predict he's only getting better. He committed 13 errors in 1498 total chances (.991 fielding percentage). That's an improvement from 2007. He only committed four more errors in 2008 than he made in 2007, with 700 more chances. That's a step in the right direction.

2009 Outlook: For 2009, I fully expect to see James Loney starting 160+ games for us at 1st base. There's not much reason to think this won't be the case. Though James, let's hit up the weight room a little more during the offseason, huh? 13 homeruns from our 1st baseman is a little underwhelming.